“WiredForChange”
Submitted by the Bonner Scholars
First Place Winner
Located on the corner of the lawn between the Canon Memorial Chapel, the Forum and the Tyler Haynes Commons.
Eco-Spider Challenge Essay
Bonner Scholars represent multiple facets of change through our dedication to six common commitments: civic engagement, social justice, diversity, spiritual exploration, community-building, and international perspective. Environmental change and sustainable living are critical aspects of our ultimate goal of becoming and encouraging others to become educated, culturally aware, and civic-minded individuals. The Bonner Scholars’ contribution to the eco-spider challenge demonstrates how environmental change fits into our broader goals. Our spider, WiredForChange, represents the Bonner Program’s dedication to civic engagement, as it is made from recycled materials gathered from the recycling shed on-campus and promotes environmental awareness and sustainability on multiple levels. We believe that it is our civic responsibility to contribute to the war on waste. From eyes made of soda cans to a body made of a discarded industrial streetlamp, WiredForChange represents our efforts to promote environmental awareness from the individual to the commercial level. Our spider represents a commitment to community building as we have a responsibility as a community to reduce, reuse, recycle, and ultimately fuel global change. The eco-spider challenge encourages involvement from the campus community and we, as Bonners and student advocates for change, are inspired by this collective effort to address environmental issues. We chose to construct WiredForChange from household and industrial materials in hopes of motivating our community to expand its efforts to promote environmental consciousness beyond the boundaries of the University of Richmond campus.
Submitted by the Bonner Scholars Eco-Spider Team
Eric Van Der Hyde
Sarah Potter