Who can participate?
The competition is open to any current Penn State student (undergraduate or graduate) with a camera in their phone. Students can work in teams of up to four people.
What should my posts look like?
Your submission should be three to five posts for Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. Accepted formats include static images, carousels and short-form videos (recommended length 30-90 seconds/post).
Submissions should relate to one key sustainability problem relevant to Penn State and should include an explicit call to action for how members of the Penn State community can make a difference.
Your submission must…
- Be original content
- Focus on one overarching sustainability problem
- Be factually accurate
- Follow Penn State’s accessibility guidelines for social media content
How to participate
All applicants must complete the brief online submission form. Students can publicly share their posts on social media with the hashtag #GreenTheFeed (or link to their posts through the online submission form without publishing the posts online).
Possible issues include (but are not limited to):
- Climate change and carbon emissions
- Waste reduction and recycling
- Energy and water conservation
- Food systems and sustainable consumption
- Environmental implications of artificial intelligence
- Environmental justice
- Campus sustainability initiatives
What are the evaluation criteria?
The judging panel consists of Penn State faculty, staff and graduate students with expertise in a range of relevant areas, such as science communication, strategic communication and advertising. The judges will evaluate submissions based on the following criteria:
- Accuracy and understanding of the information
- Creativity and appeal of the content
- Relevance to the Penn State community
- Potential engagement and shareability
Prizes
In addition, the following monetary prizes will be awarded (per team):
- First prize: $500
- Second prize: $300
- Third prize: $200
The posts from the winning submission may be disseminated through various official Penn State social media accounts. The competition is run by the Bellisario College's Sustainability Council.