Changemaker Central on the Tempe campus challenged students to decide what they could do to change the world with an extra day in February.
Students were encouraged throughout February to submit proposals to 10,000 Solutions, an online signature program which runs year-round. Submissions from this month, however, were eligible to win one of two $2,900 prizes.
A showcase Wednesday night capped off the ASU Leap Day Challenge and brought students to the Changemaker Central office in the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus to discuss and refine their ideas.
The event was a final push for student submissions with about 20 students participating. Five student groups received feedback on their solutions.
Biology and society senior Emilio Galan, the vice director of the student leadership team at Changemaker Central, said Wednesday’s event provided the same experiences people receive when they post their solutions online.
“We have these buttons on the site that let people show support and give feedback,” Galan said. “Tonight, we’re bringing those faculties to life.”
Each of the ideas proposed Wednesday night related to sustainability in some way, and each was at a different stage of development.
Business sustainability senior David Metoyer is one of the founders of reNature, a company that received funding through the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative to use bio-reactors to dispose of unused food.
“There’s got to be a better way to manage the waste than just throwing it away,” Metoyer said.
With other participants, Metoyer brainstormed how to best tackle the company’s main problem: a general reluctance to sort through waste. The bio-reactors used by reNature break down organic waste into fertilizer, but the fertilizer could become toxic if the wrong materials are used.
Film and media production sophomore Jared Doles tackled the issue of battery waste, proposing bins be located on campus for students to access easily.
Doles said his idea was born when a friend caught him throwing away several dead batteries and told him they contain dangerous chemicals that could end up polluting water supplies if sent to landfills.
He said students would be more likely to safely dispose of the thousands of batteries they throw away each year if bins were located in high-traffic areas, the same way recycling and trashcans are.
“Advertising and awareness are going to be big parts of this if it comes to life,” Doles said.
Business sustainability senior Luis Aguilera had not yet uploaded a solution when he came to Wednesday’s forum, but he said he planned to submit it that night after hearing feedback from other students.
“Everyone here was open and welcoming,” Aguilera said. “They seemed so willing to help me figure out my idea.”
Aguilera came to the event mulling over an idea he had when visiting photovoltaic testing lab TÜV Rheinland, which tests solar panels, two weeks before.
He discovered that many solar panels failed quality tests at the plant, which he proposed could be made into furniture.
Two other solutions — a bike cooperative proposed by engineering freshmen and a senior’s idea for a networking website for people trying to sustainably renovate homes — were also discussed.
The 10,000 Solutions Showcase was the last of three other events held as part of ASU’s Leap Day Challenge. Earlier in the day, Changemaker Central hosted a club fair and a scavenger hunt. Similar events took place on other campuses.
University Innovation Fellow Daniil Gunitskiy, the co-advisor of Changemaker Central’s student leadership team, said the 10,000 Solutions site received more than 250 submissions in February, to add to the more than 1,700 they had already received so far this year.
“Through our 2.29 events today, we were able to engage many students for the first time and to also help advance the ideas and projects of students who have already been taking advantage of Changemaker Central,” Gunitskiy said.
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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