the amazing green race

Submitted by turbosprout on Tue, 2008-09-16 11:59

Wits students are on Day 4 of a three week long drive to go greener. Organised by student organisation Roots and Shoots and in conjunction with the Biological Society (Biosoc) of the University of the Witwatersand, they are running a project that aims to get students to participate in a race to decrease their ecological footprints. Enrollment took place last week and The Amazing Green Race is now firmly in swing! Participants receive daily SMS's and emails showing how to live in a more sustainable manner through easy-to-follow tips. They are also planning to award prizes for the greatest ecological footprint reduction and lowest carbon footprint at a celebratory after-race party.

Events are planned for the 23rd Sept, where there will be talks by academics and professionals in the climate change and environmental fields, and the 3rd October when the three week race will culminate in a picnic party prize fest.

They've also got a nifty go green quiz you can take to assess your footprint and a cool promo video to check out over here.

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Some questions are questionable

I have a few problems with questions on their quiz. Like
3. Is your Geyser fitted with a Geyser Blanket?
- Modern geysers are very well insulated and adding a geyser blanket does not make a significant (if any) difference.
7. What percentage of the time do you buy locally produced products (clothes, food, beverages, etc.)?
- This I believe was highlighted recently on urbansprout, but unfortunately not all locally produced products have a lower carbon footprint than their foreign counterparts.
17. Do you carpool? How many times a week? (this includes 2 or more people in a car)
- Unfortunately their question does not allow for scooters and motorcycles.
26. Is it better to use a dishwasher than to wash dishes by hand?
- This is still an open debate. A dishwasher uses more harmful (less biodegradable) detergents, but it generally uses less water than hand washing. Which is best?

Hi! Thanks for your interest

Hi! Thanks for your interest in the Amazing Green Race (which will be running at Wits University in 2009 again).

Your comments on our green-quiz are all valid. Thank you for pointing out these discrepenancies. We designed the quiz with the aim of creating a simple quiz that would be quick and easy for students to answer at our enrollment stand but that had a distinctly South Afican flavour. Last year was the first time we ran this project - and so there is much room for improvement. So thank you for your insightful comments. The new Roots and Shoots team at Wits will be able to incorporate the suggestions into the Amazing Green Race Programme this year.

If you have more comments and suggestions we'd love to hear from you (please email gogreenproject@gmail.com) so that we can further inspire Joburg students to live more sustainably by refining the Amazing Green Race!

Yours sincerely
Vanessa
Green Race Coordinator 2008
Wits University Student

Great Initiative

Hi

This looks like a great initiative. Would be good to see a followup on it.

Dan
dishwasher ratings