Enviropedia: A Serious Game about Beverage Container Choices

Awarded Grant: $60,000

Principal Investigator:

Lori Scarlatos, Stony Brook University

The trouble with introductory science and engineering courses is that students often don’t see how what they are learning is relevant to their lives. The Enviropedia project addresses this by emphasizing the connections between science and society by focusing on a simple decision that people make every day: what beverage containers to use. The open online tools developed for this project include a casual game (Container Chaos), a carbon footprint calculator, and a student wiki. Enviropedia was pilot tested in five undergraduate courses at Stony Brook, demonstrating applicability to other campuses.

Co-PI’s and Key Partners:

Alexander M. Orlov, Dept. of Material Science and Engineering, Stony Brook University
Arnout van de Rijt, Dept. of Sociology, Stony Brook University
David J. Tonjes, Dept. of Technology and Society, Stony Brook University

Reports and Resources:

• The Stony Brook project website includes links to the casual Enviropedia game and calculator, both of which are freely available to all.
• Stony Brook “Sparks of Innovation” Conference Poster
• Project outcomes report

Creative Commons License: