Green Gown Awards 2015 – Enterprise and Employability - London South Bank University - Finalist

How Bad are Bananas? The Great Carbon Footprint Game

Actually bananas are not that bad when you consider their carbon footprint!

An LSBU Erasmus student took the ‘How Bad are Bananas?’ book and turned it into ‘The Great Carbon Footprint Game’, simultaneously cracking the nut of starting difficult carbon conversations with the disengaged as well as accidentally creating a marketable eco-product that has already sold into the HE sector.

The game is based on a ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ principle. Players are given 5 pairs of everyday items or activities (e.g. a pair of jeans, a bottle of milk, 1 mile cycled powered by bacon) and need to decide which has the higher carbon footprint.

LSBU will use the game throughout the academic year to engage students and staff from all Schools and Departments.

Top 3 learnings

1 If you give students ownership and responsibility they will help create the very best engagement ideas and tools

2 Some of the best interaction and engagement we have had has been created by the game because it generates fun (and competitive!) discussion

3 The simple layout of the game makes it quick to understand, and the design is portable – the game will be used at Board meetings and toolbox talks alike!