Students can start voting online today for how to make Library West sustainable.
About 13 students submitted short essays with ideas to increase sustainability through Gators Give Back, which used to be called the Pepsi Refresh Challenge. Voting ends in March, when the winner’s idea will be used at the library.
Last year, students submitted ideas to increase composting from garbage at the Reitz Union, he said.
The winning student or team will also get $500 in PepsiCo Inc. products. Every Spring, Pepsi gives a $10,000 grant to support sustainability at UF, said David Looney, the associate director of business services.
April Hines, the Journalism and Mass Communications librarian, said she’s looking forward to helping pick a winner.
“Students get to have a say in something that is really going to make a larger impact and a difference,” Hines said. “I have students tell me all the time that Library West is their second home, so why not give back?”
Maegan Muir, an Office of Sustainability intern, said she thinks the contest will teach students about sustainability.
“I say education is the first step in most social issues,” the 20-year-old said.
Although fewer students submitted ideas than in the past, Hines said she thinks there will be great ones.
“I was really impressed by the quality of the submissions,” Hines said. “I think that even though we didn’t get hundreds of submissions, it was quality over quantity.”
