Everyone knows drinking bottled water is a waste of unnecessary resources, and since so many college students drink bottled water, a few years ago Brita decided to reach out and start FilterForGood in order to get people – students mostly – to switch over to reusable bottles and Brita filtered water. So far they’ve already had over 135,000 pledge to no more bottled water.
But the company wanted to take it a step further.
Last year, Brita started the College FilterForGood Eco-Challenge, an environmentally friendly contest for college campuses that would reward the 5 schools that can come up with the best eco-friendly initiatives with $10,000. There were no limits put on the ideas, only that the end result would be making the campus more sustainable.
Now, Brita and FilterForGood have picked the top 5 schools out of the 100 that applied for the 2008/09 round, and hope that they can keep the great ideas flowing for this year’s deadline (October 30th), with next year’s winners to be announced January 2010.
The winners were:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: created a solar powered air conditioning and heating system
Harvard Law School: created teams of students to bike between Massachusetts towns to host educational events about climate change
The George Washington University: Are ensuring their LEED certified building is free of all water bottles
University of California-Davis: Students are planting trees on the campus farm to educate people about forest conservation and raise awareness about the environmental benefits of trees
Warren Wilson College: Are running a “Real Time Energy Monitor” that publishes to the web to promote energy saving activities throughout the campus
If you’re a student and think you can come up with a better idea, visit FilterForGood and enter for your chance at winning next year’s prize.
