Dickinson College EcoChallenge Team Helps Cut Over 9,400 Pounds of CO2
More than 200 Dickinsonians joined in on EcoChallenge 2018, helping to cut more than 9,400 pounds of CO2 emissions. During the first two weeks of October, students, faculty and staff who participated in the competition-based higher-education sustainability program completed a multitude of waste, food and transportation challenges that resulted in:
- 37 locally sourced meals consumed
- 26 donations made
- 3,445 minutes of exercise
- 75 plastic containers not sent to the landfill
- and 9,427 pounds of CO2 saved.
These efforts translated into 20,607 points for the Green Devils team, helping Dickinson College top Haverford College and Bucknell University in a competition among the three institutions.
“The EcoChallenge fosters an opportunity for students on campus to challenge themselves to improve their personal behavior and understand the impact that an individual can have on sustainability," says Robin Okunowo ’21 (undeclared), who participated in this year's challenge. "The challenge is only two weeks, but the impact on the environment lasts a lifetime.”
Sponsored by Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI), the EcoChallenge has engaged more than 2,500 organizations and 230,000 individuals worldwide since it launched in 1993.
Each year, in addition to the broader competition, the college holds a friendly challenge among the Dickinson team members to see who can acquire the most points. This year’s participants were enticed by sustainability-focused prizes, such as the top prize of a Razor E300 electric scooter, a hammock and $25 of tokens to the Farmers on the Square market. Winners of the campus-wide competition were Elizabeth Ensslin ’22 (undeclared), Ilana Zeitzer ’19 (art & art history, biology) and Rachel Krewson ’20 (physics, environmental science).
Elizabeth Ensslin '22 (undeclared) poses with her prize, a Razor E300 electric scooter.
“Participating in the EcoChallenge is an opportunity for me to experiment with personal sustainability goals that I would not otherwise," says Luke MacCormick ’19 (biology). "For example, I was vegan for two meals a day during the challenge, and I continue to think about the food choices I make after the challenge, trying to eat more vegan meals.”
Learn more about sustainability at Dickinson.
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Published October 30, 2018