• February 9, 2010

Staples is launching its first Staples Global EcoEasy Challenge, a bake-off among leading educational institutions around the world to create a green and glorious office product.

In conjunction with Rochester Institute of Technology's Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Staples says it is starting the contest to engage engineering students around the world in creating business or home-office products that are better for the planet.

One grand-prize winning team will receive $25,000 and first- and second-place teams will receive $5,000 each, the Framingham, Mass.-based retailer says.

And students from the following schools have been invited to participate: University of California at Berkeley and the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S., as well as students from eight additional universities located in Australia and Brazil.--Sarah Mahoney