As part of the Think Outside the Brick Competition, the Student Government Sustainability Commission is accepting proposals on ways to make campus a more sustainable place to live, work and study.

According to Jason Smith, a junior in business administration and the project director of Think Outside the Brick, the competition is looking for simple ideas that can be started on a limited budget, but can still make a huge impact.

“We want to find an idea, put it into action and see it through to fruition,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for students to make their mark on campus.”

According to Caitlin Purcell, a sophomore in anthropology, the Think Outside the Brick competition is a good way to get students involved.

“Young people today have some of the best ideas,” she said. “If they are given the opportunity to put those ideas into action, wonderful things can happen.”

All submitted proposals will be judged on feasibility, scalability and campus impact, Smith said. The winning proposal will receive $1,000 starting funds, a team to jumpstart the idea and initial support.

“We are eliminating the barriers,” Smith said. “We are providing the funding, the support and the resources. It is a tremendous opportunity. We are creating a solid infrastructure for student ideas to grow.”

The funds that will be used too implement the chosen idea is money the commission already has, Smith said.

“We will be using money we already have to invest in a student idea,” he said. “The money is the students’ money, so the more money that touches the students, the better.”

According to Smith, Think Outside the Brick is a standardized process to create the next farmers market or Pack Pulse-type project.

“We are asking students how we can make the campus community better, and we are willing to use our full resources to implement the idea,” Smith said.

This competition is about defining what sustainability is, and figuring out how to achieve it, Smith said.

“Sustainability takes on individual definitions, [the students] need to tell us how to achieve their individual goals,” he said.

“Students are aware that there are a lot of opportunities to innovate and implement sustainability, we just want to provide an avenue to making good ideas a reality,” Jim Ceresnak, student body president, said.

According to Purcell, sustainability is a big issue that needs to be addressed, and students will take advantage of the opportunity to make a difference.

“[Sustainability] is important for students to focus on because we only get one planet earth, and we need to protect it for future generations,” she said. “Students will definitely participate in making this campus a better place.”

Smith and Ceresnak agree this competition is important to the future of the University.

“Sustainable technologies are the future of innovation, like energy, and looking at how we can use it more efficiently is something that is important to N.C. State,” Ceresnak said. “Here, we are leaders in technology, and in turn, sustainability.”

“[The project] relies on where you are now, and where the institution will be in the future,” Smith said. “It is about how we are contributing as students to benefit this campus in the future.”

According to Ceresnak, the commission will hope to make Think Outside the Brick an annual competition.

“It will become a yearly project because there are so many people with great ideas,” he said. “It inspires creativity and deep thinking about making campus more sustainable.”

“It’s a win, win project,” Smith said. “It is good for the University, it is good for students and it is good for education.”