For the last month, EADA students, staff and alumni were challenged to step up their sustainability game with the Sustainability Challenge. The Challenge was an initiative of EADA’s Sustainability Club and encouraged the EADA community to integrate create ways of integrating sustainable practices into their daily lives. It took place over the course of a month, based on the theory that it takes 28 days to develop a new habit.
Master in Sustainable Business & Innovation participant and Sustainability Club champion Alexandra Berendes was motivated by the desire to empower classmates by showing them the impact of small changes. “We wanted to highlight the wide variety of actions each one of us can take on a daily basis without compromising our lifestyle,” she says. “It was really nice to see that I was part of a community that took action and that was focussed on the same things as me.”
The Sustainability Challenge was carried out over the JouleBug Enterprise app, where participants could share their sustainable activities and behaviours. International MBA student Anurag Mall consistently appeared on the leader board. ”What motivated me take part in the challenge was to try to explain that it is not really that hard to be sustainable,” he says. “Just taking care of really small things in our day-to-day life can make a big difference.”
The Sustainability Challenge closed on March 30, with participants logging activities for the whole month. To mark the end of the Challenge, the Sustainability Club hosted a chat with Dr JJ Singh, professor of marketing at EADA. Dr Singh shared his thoughts on the ‘Attitude-Behaviour Gap’, reflecting on why consumers often say one thing in terms of ethical behaviour, but do quite another. The talk encouraged participants to reflect on their own practices –during and after the Sustainability Challenge– and the motivations behind them.
The impact of the Challenge was impressive, especially when measured according to the savings estimates for average households:
- 1 thousand kg of CO2 savings – the equivalent of powering 2 homes for a month
- 68 kg of waste diverted – the equivalent of eliminating 2 large bins of garbage
- 872 litres of water saved – the equivalent to taking 272 5-minute showers
The Sustainability Challenge results were inspiring to Alexandra. “They really showed that the actions of individuals can add up to a significant impact when implemented by a larger group of people,” she says. “I especially liked seeing the photos of sustainable actions shared by others – that made it all more tangible and made us feel connected.”
María Llaverias, Manager of Network & Community, was proud to be part of such an inspiring initiative. “The Challenge achieved two objectives: it raised awareness about the impact of our daily actions and lifestyle choices, and it generated a stronger community by achieving the challenge’s milestones together,” she says. “Everyone could follow the challenge at their own pace, making it easy for participants to engage. This is a great initiative from our Sustainability Club, and definitely one that’s here to stay.”