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Grand Prize Unveiled in Duke Sustainability Challenge

The winner of the Unpark Yourself Challenge will receive an ELF

Members of the Duke community got a first glance Friday at the grand prize in Sustainable Duke’s Unpark Yourself Challenge – a recumbent bike-electric vehicle hybrid that uses no gas, is road safe, travels up to 35 miles per hour and parks at a bike rack.

The new ELF was on display as part of a kickoff breakfast for the Unpark Yourself Challenge, a team-based sustainability competition that begins March 16 and runs to April 13. All faculty, staff and graduate students sign up now and are eligible to compete in the program, which encourages participants to try alternative commuting options.

A look at Unpark's kickoff event.

“If I won it, I could get rid of my car,” said Kyle Washburn, a Duke Hospital emergency room nurse who attended the kickoff and is on the CODE Green team with coworkers from the Emergency Medicine. “For me, it’d be a great way to get anywhere.”

More than 100 community members registered for the challenge during the kickoff Friday, joining almost 1,200 employees and graduate students who have signed up. Among the participants is Washburn’s wife, Deanna Befus, who’s competing on “Nursing,” a different team than Washburn with colleagues from the School of Nursing.

“It’s neat to see Duke partner with a local business to raise awareness of all the things we could be doing to be sustainable,” said Befus, a nursing Ph.D. student. “I look forward to communicating more about what I’m doing to be sustainable, whether it’s walking or taking the bus, and inviting others to try it as well.”

Below, Washburn, right, chats with Befus about aspects of the ELF, including front headlights and turn signals and the vehicle’s seating arrangement. For additional photos from the event, visit the Working@Duke Facebook page.

Visitors to the kickoff event also had the chance to hop on a stationary bike to blend their own breakfast smoothie. Graduate student Nisan Gorgulu pedaled away to mix together a drink with pineapple and mango.

Sign up for the Unpark Yourself Challenge here.