In celebration of the upcoming Earth Month, the Blue Hen Economics Club, the University of Delaware’s sustainability manager, Michelle Bennett, and the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN) announce the third annual UD Environmental Case Competition.

Undergraduate student teams are invited to submit proposals detailing their ideas for reducing waste on campus or otherwise making the UD campus more sustainable. Proposals will be accepted until April 6.

The Blue Hen Economics Club will hold two brief information sessions for UD students interested in participating at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 20, and Tuesday, March 21, in Room 450 of Purnell Hall.

The case competition allows students to use their skills in creativity, logistics and sustainability to invent new ways for UD to improve its environmental footprint. Students can enter the competition individually or as a team.

Ideas submitted in years past include rain gardens, composting programs and recycling chutes. Students should investigate potential solutions to an environmental problem, including research on feasibility for UD’s campus. Brief written proposals of one to two pages should describe the idea and will be evaluated on creativity, feasibility and exactitude.

Successful proposals will proceed to the final competition on April 27, where finalists will give oral presentations to a panel of judges. The competition will be open to the public.

The winner will receive a monetary prize of $500 in the form of gift cards; the second-place idea will receive $250.

Additionally, the UD Sustainability Task Force will consider implementing the winning idea on UD’s campus, subject to feasibility, through its Green Grants Program.

Cory Cutsail, a former UD student who initiated the Environmental Case Competition with the Blue Hen Economics Club in 2015, emphasized that the competition should be open to students of any major or interest.

“Case competitions have a reputation for being business-oriented,” he said. “But we wanted to make it clear that we welcome students from any department or major to participate in this event.”

For more information about the competition, contact Christian Sawka, vice president of the Blue Hen Economics Club, at csawka@udel.edu, or visit the competition webpage.