Written for GreenTeamBlog.org.
This February, the College of Law Green Team held the 1st Annual Winter ULaw Clean Air Competition to change commuting behavior to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion, conserve energy, and save money. The Green Team asked those associated with the College of Law to team up with their class or Faculty/Staff/Admin/Friends, use public transit, bike, walk, carpool, telecommute, and/or trip chain, track their trips, and win great prizes.
While College of Law participants competed with their classmates or colleagues, the University is one of only three entities that hosted a clean air competition this winter. Indeed, this is the first year that a winter version of the summer Clear The Air Challenge has been offered. It was an opportunity to test this mini-challenge and lead the community in making healthier travel choices during the inversion season. And we did just that.
We kicked off the Competition with a workshop on transit options. Representatives from UTA and the U’s Sustainability Resource Center educated students and staff on the different ways to get to and from school—besides driving alone and polluting our air.
By the end of the month, nearly 150 people registered for the ULaw Clean Air Competition and saved 3,941 solo vehicle trips, 39,094.4 miles, and 9.9 tons CO2 emissions! We carpooled for over 1,000 trips, biked nearly 1,000 miles, walked another 1,000 miles, and logged just under 20,000 transit miles!
The 1L’s saved the most solo trips (1,118 trips) and won the Competition. Kudos to them! They’ll be recognized with a special treat at the Student Talent Show, April 7th. There were other winners too. The top solo trip trackers for each team will have a private lunch with Dean Adler. The top 8 student solo trip trackers will have a networking lunch with attorneys from one of the following firms: Holland and Hart, Parson’s Behle Latimer, Stoel Rives, and Sentry Financial. The top two trackers from the Faculty/Staff/Admin/Friends team got gift cards to Corner Bakery. Additionally, there were several random drawing prize winners each week. Prizes included:
- Attendance to the Stegner Center Symposium and annual dinner
- 2 GreenBikes memberships
- 2 day passes to Momentum Climbing Gym
- Swag from the Office of Development, Stoel Reeves, Lexis, and Westlaw
- Vouchers for Crimson View, Brio, and UTA
This year’s Competition was a success and we hope that next year, even more people will sign up, track, and help reduce winter air pollution. The Green Team received a $1000 Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund (SCIF) Grant to offset the costs of the competition.
Thank you to our generous supporters!