St. Edward’s University, a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, is in the midst of the nationwide college competition, Small Steps Big Wins Campus Challenge, which began Feb. 10 and ends April 25.

Small Steps is an online platform run by Net Impact, a non-profit organization that pushes for social action. The challenge rewards students for participating in sustainable action and is sponsored by Alcoa Foundation, Newman’s Own and the Coca-Cola Company.

To participate, students sign-up online through myActions, a social media website, and can participate by logging their sustainable actions, such as riding a bike, using a water bottle, donating clothes, volunteering in the community and more.

“It converts actions into money saved and carbon reduced, which is a fascinating and encouraging way to visualize each individual’s impact on the Earth,” Jacqueline Jacot, Students For Sustainability Green Ambassador Coordinator, said. 

MyActions social media website is similar to Facebook, specifically in the newsfeed aspect, and also resembles Foursquare which allows participants to gain different badges and levels.

There is a mobile app for the iPhone. This allows participants to access the challenge in a more efficient way.  

Once the sustainable action is posted, it shows up on a news feed and others can comment and click on a “cool” or “thanks” button. Each action, comment and click of a button earns points for the participant, group or school.

Tommy Lapoint, St. Edward’s Sustainability Graduate Assistant, is the Net Impact’s campus director for St. Edward’s. Lapoint worked with the Environmental Stewardship Committee, SFS, and other groups on campus to bring Small Steps to St. Edward’s. 

“When Tommy told me about Small Steps, it was really exciting and I wanted to help get Hilltoppers, especially residents, involved,” Jacot said.  

St. Edward’s is using the Small Steps challenge to create a competition between residence halls on campus. The winning hall will receive a prize during Earth Week.

Lapoint said that he views Small Steps as an opportunity for students to be more aware about sustainability.

Small Steps donates a quarter to a charity for every action that is recorded. Students can choose from five charities.

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