Gear Up for the Cool Campus Challenge

UC Merced aims to be the coolest campus in the system by participating in the University of California’s inaugural Cool Campus Challenge.

The challenge is a competition between all 10 UC campuses to motivate and reward staff and faculty members and students for reducing their carbon footprints and help the UC system reach its carbon neutrality goals.

President Janet Napolitano has pledged the UC will become carbon neutral by 2025, which would make it the first major university to reach that goal.

Through the competition, participants will be challenged to understand their own carbon footprints and pledge to take actions to reduce them. People can take part as individuals or teams, and every point earned by each participant counts for his or her campus. Points are tallied at the end, and the winning campus is crowned the Coolest UC Campus.

The challenge starts Oct. 6 and continues through Dec. 10. Sign-ups will be taken during the week of Oct. 6, and each participant will be given instructions and guidance on how to score points.

Over the course of the campaign, different sustainable themes will be highlighted weekly and people can show off their participation by using the hashtag #UCool on social media.

More information will be released in the coming week. People can also visit the website for more information, tips and ideas.