Mental Health & Climate Crisis

As part of the carnival, we will be including 2 games which encourage students to relate their personal health to climate change. Most discourse about climate change is very gloomy, so we want our carnival games to engage students on a level which encourages individual change. Our first game will be a ring–toss format, focused on mental health. Participants will toss rings from about 10 feet away onto a 4’x4’ platform of wooden dowels shaped into flowers. Participants will be awarded a hand–made “seed bomb” of native plant species which they can take home to plant. Instead of wallowing in sorrow about climate change, participants will be able to take action by planting native species which help neutralize carbon emissions. In partnership with this event, we will have a table from the University Counseling Center to share mental health resources available to students. They will provide their own table. Our second game will be a beanbag toss format focused on physical health. Participants will toss bean bags to knock cars off a 5’x2’ shelf. Winning participants will be awarded 1–day, 4–day, or 1–year passes to “Green Bike SLC,” a local organization which provides a bike share service to people in Salt Lake City. This will encourage students to relate physical health to climate change. Green Bike SLC will have a table at the event which they provide.

The Health Team includes: Doug Tolman, Jennifer Chacon, and Matt

“Flower Ring Toss”

The object of the game is just like your standard ring toss game.

1. The player will stand at a distance of 10 feet and attempt to toss rings onto dowels in the shape of flowers.
2. 5 rings will be given to a player, and if they get 3 out of the 5 rings onto the dowels, they will win a seed bomb.

“Emissions Elimination”

The object of the bean bag throw is to knock little wooden cars off of the “Road.”

1. Much akin to the flower ringtoss, the player will have to stand back at a distance of 10 feet.
2. From there they will have to throw the beanbags and knock the wood cars off the road.
3. 5 bags will be given to the player, and if they can knock 3 out of 5 cars off, they will win a Greenbike SLC pass.

Seed Bombs:

Seed bombs are little dirt and clay balls filled with local wild seeds. They encourage participants to plant local beneficial plants where there might not be any at the time. The seed bombs are biodegradable, as are the paper bags they will be packaged in, leaving minimal impact on the planet.

Greenbike SLC Pass:

These passes allow the individual to access Greenbike SLC’s city-wide collection of bicycles to travel around theCity in an ecologically friendly way.Winning participants will take home one24-hour pass, with a chance to win one off our 1-year passes if they are able to knock down every car.