There is no better time for Blue Devils to go green.
Starting Feb. 27, Sustainable Duke will host its inaugural “Green Devil Smackdown” as a part of the ongoing campus effort to raise awareness for environmental sustainability and to become carbon-neutral by 2024. As an eight-week challenge promoting sustainable behaviors on campus, the Smackdown competition encourages teams to take environmentally friendly measures, such as carpooling or biking. Teams of between 10 and 100 people—comprised of students, faculty and staff—will compete for an array of prizes, including men’s basketball tickets, a new bicycle and an Amazon Kindle. At the end of the contest, the team that earns the highest average points per participant—points accrue as team members use sustainable measures—will not only win a custom Green Devil championship belt, but the University will also buy carbon offsets to neutralize the team’s carbon emissions at the University.
Casey Roe, sustainability outreach coordinator for Sustainable Duke, said more than 3,000 people have participated in the organization’s Green Devil Challenges such as pledging to power down electronics during certain hours of the day or take public transportation. With 17 teams comprised of 150 people total already signed up for the first year of the Smackdown competition, Roe said she is encouraged by the initial support for the contest and is looking to increase participation before the competition begins in two weeks.
“We tried to make an event that would give a competitive spirit and get more people engaged,” Roe said. “[Smackdown] is different than anything we have advertised before, so we hope it will reach out to new people throughout this month.”
The competition is also a convenient way to learn about sustainability measures on campus, Roe said. One of the weekly challenges, for example, is to obtain a GoPass and register for WeCar.
The idea behind the Smackdown competition stemmed from the 10-week faculty fitness competition Shape Up Duke, said Paul Grantham, assistant vice president at the Office of Communication Services. The program prompted 2,700 Duke employees to exercise regularly, and Grantham had the idea to apply the same concept to sustainability awareness.
“We’ve had success in the past with competitions as the way to engage people,” Grantham said. “People tracked their steps take, weight lost and exercise minutes.... The program gave participants a sense of team and individual involvement.”
The ultimate goal of the Shape Up program was to promote lasting healthy living habits and Grantham said the Smackdown competition will have the same mission regarding sustainability. The purpose is to not only motivate people to be environmentally aware but also create sustainable habits for the future.
“One thing we noticed through the faculty fitness competition was that people developed healthy habits,” Grantham said. “We hope similar behaviors will appear through this sustainability competition.”
Senior Julia Weidner noted that sustainable behavior can be difficult due to the limitations of living on a college campus, though added that the University is making a lot of environmental decisions for students. A participant in the upcoming competition, Weidner lives in the Duke Smart Home and sees the Smackdown competition as a great way to educate students about sustainability and the importance of being environmentally conscious.
“ It’ll be good since they are not only raising awareness but also incentivizing the competition through prizes,” Weidner said. “ It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Correction: This article now reflects that teams in the "Smackdown" can be between 10 and 100 people. An earlier version of this article stated otherwise. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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