To make up for the cancellation of in-person on-campus events this spring, the WashU community came together virtually to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and take action for a better shared future.
More than a hundred of us, across campuses and university affiliations, formed the WashU Together team in the online Earth Day Ecochallenge, a 30-day environmental and social engagement program. Between April 1-30, our team members committed to and completed actions, and answered “reflection questions”, simultaneously growing their individual impact and contributing to the team’s collective impact.
By the end of the challenge, WashU Together had accumulated 15,322 points, ranking #16 out of 818 teams! The team landed right behind the ‘St. Louis Goes Green’ team, which represented a coalition of local green groups including our friends at Earthday 365, Earth Ways Center, One STL, and the USGBC Missouri Gateway Chapter. We are proud to have competed alongside the St. Louis green community, with whom we demonstrated our regional dedication to sustainability.
“I am so thankful to have participated in this challenge,” said Kate Koenig, a Database Assistant at the Washington University Physician Network. Koenig also shared with StudLife that the challenge “turned into a little bit of a family thing, my daughter is super excited about Earth Day today. It’s been a nice distraction from everything else that’s been going on.” Now that the challenge is over, she looks forward to continuing to improve her family’s habits.