The university today launched a contest via its Planet Blue social media platforms in an effort to increase awareness of the “green” sites and programs on campus.
Using the Office of Campus Sustainability’s interactive map, the contest, “Where on Planet Blue?” challenges participants to guess, and post photos of, featured locations for a chance to win prizes. The contest runs through Sept. 19, and is open to all students, faculty and staff through Twitter or Facebook.
“We are pleased to provide the campus community and our visitors with this easy to use tool that highlights the green initiatives on campus,” says Barb Hagan, sustainability representative with the Office of Campus Sustainability.
A team of undergraduate students created the first version of the map as a course project for ENVIRON 391: Sustainable Campus.
In January, the Office of Campus Sustainability enlisted the help of Maxat Kurmanbekov, then a senior in the College of Engineering, to make the map mobile accessible. Currently, the map is accessible only on the iPhone with plans to expand to the Android platform.
Map features include the ability to search by categories, including the university’s 2025 sustainability goals, and pop-ups with additional information about the locations and programs. The map also uses a wolverine symbol to identify student initiated sustainability efforts.
“It’s incredible to see the passion of our students to get involved with the various aspects if sustainability,” Hagan adds. “There are a lot of sustainability minded Wolverines on campus!”
For full contest rules and instructions on how to play, go to: sustainability.umich.edu/events/2013-earthfest-party-planet.
