Southwestern University
IN-1: Innovation 1

A SUSTAINABILIBUDDY is a Southwestern student, faculty, or staff member that contributes to the sustainability of the campus in their daily lives, embodying a positive role model for engaging with the campus community. These acts towards sustainability include both the small examples of turning a light off that’s not in use and the larger examples like applying for grant funding for your own projects. Ultimately, Sustainabilibuddies will serve as extensions, or representatives, of Southwestern’s various programs which attempt to raise environmental awareness. We would like to create a way to celebrate the wonderful deeds taking place on our campus by providing small incentives to encourage participation of individuals who might not normally engage in these efforts. We plan on providing numerous trainings throughout the semester with the goal of creating more holistic individuals better prepared to spread sustainable knowledge to the different factions of campus.

The campaign uses the pokemon theme and has a reward system that splits themes of sustainability into themes that match the pokemon badges from the anime:

-Boulder Badge: Food! Work for more sustainable ways to source our food. Did you know there's a garden full of delicious vegetables on campus?
-Cascade Badge: Water! Learn about ways to protect the precious water reserves and ecosystems we have. Save animals, save resources, and save ourselves!
-Thunder Badge: Electricity! Reduce unneeded electricity consumption to protect the planet. See how quickly it all adds up!
-Rainbow Badge: Activism! There are lots of organizations dedicated to environmental and social work that you can participate in easily. Often these two goals are hand-in-hand!
-Soul Badge: Waste! Protect the earth from countless tons of landfill waste that can be recycled or re-used.
-Marsh Badge: Awareness! Many people don't even know about many of these issues. Invite your friends and family to take this journey with you!
-Volcano Badge: Fossil Fuels! Help reduce our dependence on unsustainable energy sources. You'll see it's not only environmentally friendly, it's more fun!
-Earth Badge: Knowledge! Engage in education, join organizations, and reach out to other groups who will help you in your journey. We hope your sustainability journey doesn't end with us!

After earning badges (1/2 inch buttons with the badge symbol), ecotrainers can earn other sustainable prizes (compass, survival bracelet, fair trade crafts, organic cotton t shirt). We are able to track the progress of individuals and celebrate the sustainable deeds of our campus and the impact that its had on the greater community. Since the program is open to all of campus, we are excited to see a wide range of participation and see it grow over time.

Here's the link to the facebook page for the program: https://www.facebook.com/SUstainabilibuddies