Launched this year, the Hackathon is a campaign design competition that brings together students from across the School to develop a creative solution to one of the biggest sustainability challenges on campus: reducing waste during move-out.

Each year, large amounts of perfectly usable items are discarded when students leave their accommodation, despite many of these belongings being suitable for donation, reuse, or recycling. To address this issue, the Hackathon challenged student teams to design a behaviour change campaign that encouraged more sustainable move-out habits.

The initiative is built on the belief that students are more likely to engage with messages created by their peers. Rather than designing a campaign on behalf of students, the Sustainability Team wanted to empower students to take the lead, recognising that campaigns designed by students, for students, are often more relatable, authentic, and impactful. By involving students directly in the decision-making and creative process, the Hackathon not only generates fresh ideas but also equips participants with valuable experience in the sustainability sector. To recognise their efforts, participants compete for prizes, certificates, and the opportunity to see their ideas brought to life across campus.

The initiative has been warmly received by participants. One of this year's winners, Oliver Zheng, reflected:

Take a look below at this year's winning campaign, which cleverly personifies everyday household items to encourage students to empathise with them, donate them, and ultimately give them another chance.