4 Ideas for an inspiring environmental competition

“Environment is no one’s property to destroy; it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect.”
– “Mohith Agadi

How true this is. Citizens across the globe are realising that we are all stewards and custodians of the environment, and have a moral obligation to be environmentally conscious.

But what exactly does being environmentally conscious mean? It can mean many things—from choosing sustainable transportation—such as walking, biking, or other means of transport that reduce vehicle carbon emissions to using energy-efficient appliances and exploring renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power.

But if you and your organisation are looking for something bigger this year—a way to energise your organisation around Earth Day (22 April) and bring environmental consciousness to the forefront, consider creating a competition.

Environmental competitions can be a powerful way to add excitement and boost engagement in your conservation efforts. And you can make the competition itself eco-friendly along the way!

Four fun-filled environmental contest ideas

1. Create a marine and/or forest conservation challenge

A marine conservation challenge can be an exciting yet highly impactful environmental competition idea. Consider setting up a marine plastic cleanup contest. Participants can collect plastic pollution from local waterways; whoever gathers the most waste within the allotted time wins.

Live near forestland? Try a tree-planting contest. It’s a wonderful way to connect people with nature and leave it better than they find it. Not sure where to start? Partner with a local reforestation organisation, and share photos of each tree planted. Opportunities will abound to report on the growth every year, building a lasting and meaningful connection with nature.

2. Host an environmental photo contest

A photo contest can be a fun and engaging way to encourage your community to take note of the natural world.

Consider creating a contest that encourages participants to take high-quality pictures of environmental concerns and/or the beauty of nature.

To effectively evaluate the contest, create a creative scoring rubric that assesses the quality and originality of the images, the environmental message conveyed, the relevance of the images to the specified theme and its potential emotional impact on the target audience.

3. Challenge your organisation to reduce waste 

Waste reduction is a great practice that can lead to real sustainability. To encourage this practice, a waste reduction contest can be very effective, especially in the workplace or in a school or organisation. Such competition encourages participants to reduce their waste generation and general environmental footprint, incentivising them to take steps towards creating a more sustainable future.

Consider starting with a baseline assessment to gauge general waste generation practices and then set measurable targets for waste reduction. Monitor the participants’ progress towards hitting the targets throughout the competition and evaluate the outcomes of the waste reduction achieved.

4. Foster environmental innovation with a contest

An innovation contest is a fun way to get people to think outside the box when it comes to conservation.  The goal is to generate solutions and awareness of pressing environmental challenges through creativity, expertise and innovation.

Consider selecting a particular focus, such as climate change, biodiversity conservation, clean water access, renewable energy or waste recycling and management, and encourage your participants to develop new ideas within a designated time frame.

The contest could also be tech-driven: consider inviting tech experts or students to develop software, applications and AI algorithms that address environmental issues.

This year on Earth Day, consider using a competition to engage and energise your organisation. The environmental competition ideas above are versatile enough for many different groups: students, organisations, small companies and big.