Office of Energy and Sustainability
Ecolympics
Ecolympics 2026 will run March 2–15, 2026.
This year’s Ecolympics theme is Local Action, Global Reaction.
Ecolympics is an annual competition to minimize water and electricity usage through individual changes in behavior. The goal of the competition is to challenge participants from both the college and the community to strive for environmental sustainability at individual and local levels. The complementary event series initiates larger conversations about sustainability and resource consumption through events, activities, and more. This year we have the city and community-wide goal to reduce 15,000 gallons of water and 20,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.
Ecolympics may seem like just a friendly competition among campus and community buildings but it is actually a vital part of our carbon neutrality goals. The actions we take everyday and the behaviors we change as a result of Ecolympics have a big impact on our resource use and, as a result, our greenhouse gas emissions.
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Check Ecolympics Standings in Real Time!
To track current leaderboards in real time, please visit the Ecolympics Environmental Dashboard for all participants.
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On Oberlin College and Conservatory’s campus there will be a competition between residential buildings along with a friendly rivalry between select administration buildings. The list has expanded this year to include Admissions, Bibbins, Carnegie, Cox Administration Building, Severance, and Wilder Hall, all of which will face-off to find out who can save the most electricity! In the community competition, Oberlin Elementary School, Langston Middle School, and Oberlin High School will be contenders once more. In the competition between municipal buildings, there will be the Prospect Community Center, Oberlin Fire Station, OCSD Board of Education Office, and Oberlin Public Library.
There will again be the opportunity to participate in the “Daily Ecolympics Challenge.” Participants can sign up here and log their sustainable activities to win a variety of eco prizes! Anyone from the college and from the community is welcome to participate in this challenge.
On Campus
Oberlin College and Conservatory monitors the electricity and water usage of the 85 campus buildings through an online system called BuildingOS. This system is connected to the color-changing orbs located in various residence halls and the Science Center. This year the system will be tracking the separate competitions between buildings within the campus, between the City of Oberlin schools, and certain municipal buildings.
Participants will be able to track the progress of individual buildings using the link below, which contains up-to-date data regarding the competition. This site can also be accessed via QR codes that are posted around campus.
Check Ecolympics Standings in Real Time!
Who is winning?
Beginning on March 2, to track current leaderboards in real time, please visit the Ecolympics Environmental Dashboard for all participants.
Participate in the Daily Ecolympics Challenge
Register for the Daily Ecolympics Challenge and win lots of great prizes! The Daily Ecolympics Challenge will officially begin on Monday, March 2nd. When registering, please indicate you are part of the Oberlin College and Conservatory competition, not the community competition, as the tasks have been tailored to each category of participants.
During the two weeks of Ecolympics, complete as many challenges as possible to win raffle tickets for sustainability prizes including drying racks, metal beverage cups, dryer balls, plants, and more!
Ecolympics would not be possible without the help of the Green EDGE Fund. With the GEF’s assistance, Ecolympics can make a much more significant impact for the efforts of sustainability than it could have done without the aid.