Green City Challenge: October 17 · 11:30am - 5:30pm
On October 17th 2010, the very first Green City Challenge will take place in lower Manhattan. Contestants will race to green businesses and destinations throughout lower Manhattan and complete challenges that demonstrate their knowledge of how to live, work and eat green. Designed to capture your imagination, the Green City Challenge will expand your awareness of sustainable living and challenge you while having fun!
The Green City Challenge will test your knowledge of sustainability as you earn giant jigsaw puzzle pieces and solve clues in your quest to reach the finish line. This is not a typical race. Yes, there are start and finish lines, but time is not a factor. The winner will be determined by who knows the most about green living.
Contestants will receive clues to where the destinations are and ride their bicycles to get there. They will then perform challenges related to living, eating or working green. Along the way, points will be earned according to how well they do on the challenges. Whichever team earns the most points wins!
You can watch the fun by joining the contestants and volunteers at the starting line at 12 noon at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden on Avenue C and East 9th St in the East Village. Or you can gather at the finish line at Solar One on East 23rd Street at the East River. There will be an eco fair, with organic and vegetarian food and refreshments available there. The Eco Fair will be open from 3 – 5 pm. The winning teams will be announced at 4PM.
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The Starting Line
The starting line will be at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden. The race will start at high noon. Five minutes before the race starts, all the teams will receive a clue to their first destination or stop in the race. At the starting whistle, the teams are off! No fossil fuel burning vehicles can be used. Taxis, cars, motorcycles, scooters, buses, subways or anything that consumes fuel are not allowed. Only bikes, skateboards, skates, feet, or anything else that is powered by you can be used for the race. Bikers are only allowed to ride on the streets, with the flow of traffic and must follow all traffic laws, including red lights! Any and all other methods of transportation using sidewalks must follow pedestrian laws and must be used safely! Any team using any form of transportation that is not human powered will be disqualified. Any team found driving their form of transportation in an unsafe manner will be disqualified. This is only a game. It’s not important enough to risk somebody getting hurt. While wheels are not required, it is not feasable to finish the race in time on foot. Please let us know in advance if you need a bike as we will have to make arrangements for a rental.
The Teams
Contestants must be at least 18 years-of-age. Teams will consist of two people. This year’s race is limited to 10 teams and there are still spots open. If you want to be a contestant, click here for the Registration Form. If a challenge allows only one team at a time, the first team to arrive gets priority. The other teams must line up and wait till the previous team completes their challenge. The teams will earn points according to how well they do on the challenges. Teams can pay an entry fee or get sponsored by family and friends for additional points. All the teams will meet at the finish line when the Green City Challenge judges will count the points and announce the winner.
The Destinations
The four hour competition will consist of 7 Destinations. No one will know ahead of time where the destinations are. There is no pre-defined course to follow. It will be up to the contestants to determine the shortest route to the next destination. Streets will not be closed to traffic. Contestants must obey all traffic rules.
The clues to the destinations should be clear enough that anyone can find the location. Some knowledge of local green businesses would be helpful. All the locations will be in East or West Village. A computer or handheld may also be helpful. If a team cannot find the destination from the clue given, they can call the Supreme Puzzle Master on his special hotline and trade in points for the correct destination.
When the players arrive at their destination, they first must find the Challenge Master and identify themselves. He or she will explain the rules of that challenge and answer any questions. When the challenge has been completed, the Challenge Master will score the teams and award the points. If enough points have been won, the team earns a puzzle piece, on the back of which is a clue to the next destination. The front of the puzzle piece is another puzzle that can only be solved by assembling all the pieces. There should be plenty of time to complete all of the challenges. When all the pieces of the puzzle have been gathered, the teams will race to the finish line and assemble the puzzle there.
Each encounter will be filmed for possible future broadcast on the Green City Challenge website. One team for each challenge will appear on the Green City Challenge website until next year’s challenge. If a team does not successfully earn the puzzle piece, which is necessary to find the next challenge they must trade in some of their points for the piece.
Please keep in mind that if the challenge is at a business, it will be open to the public and teams should try not to interfere with their normal course of business.
Scoring
Each destination will award a maximum of 5 points for that challenge. With 7 destinations, the maximum number of points that can be won is 35. You must get at least 4 points at each challenge to earn a puzzle piece. If you get 3 or less, you will have to sacrifice 2 points to get the puzzle piece and the clue to your next destination. If at any time you can’t solve a clue, you can call the Supreme Puzzle Master and trade in 2 points to be told the location’s address.
You will have three chances to earn additional points.
• The two top fundraising teams will collect 5 points each. The next two will be awarded 4 points; the next two will be awarded 3 points.
• All teams will collect 5 points by crossing the finish line before 3:45. Time is not a factor. No additional points will be awarded for first, second or third place.
• After crossing the finish line the teams will have 60 seconds to assemble and solve the final puzzle for 5 more points.A total of 50 points will be available. Trade your points carefully!
The Finish Line
The finish line will be at Solar One. This is where friends, family and the media will await your arrival! There will be a table set up there, where you will assemble your jigsaw puzzle. You will turn in your points to the judges who will tally them up and at approximately 4PM, will announce the winning team!
Teams that have not returned to the finish line by 3:45 will not be counted. All teams should still come to the finish line though to participate in the awards ceremony and support their fellow players. There will be food, refreshments and exhibit booths that will feature hands-on demonstrations of green products, information on environmental issues and locally grown food. It will be a celebration for all that is green.
It’s nice to win and we all want to do it, but emphasis here is to have fun, learn a little and show what you know. It is the experience that is important!
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