A while ago, one of my friend's Dale, told me that he heard that at UCSB(University of California, Santa Barbara) some of the buildings were powered by the energy created from the gym. When I heard this I was very thrilled and in awe. I thought that it was a wonderful idea and if it worked successfully, then maybe the idea might possibly be implemented on a larger scale. The campus of UCSB would be quite "green" if this were true. Unfortunately when I looked deeper into this issue I could not find any information online about this. The official UCSB website didn't have any mention of it, whilst the website did include lots of information about sustainability at UCSB. In comparison, let's take a look at RCC.
In my humble opinion, I think a campus gets a "green" stamp of approval from how the facilities are run. UCSB being the best example, if the buildings were powered and run in a very economically friendly way I think a campus would be very green. Other issues, like using only electronic devices for textbooks and to take notes would also be good options. I think that RCC has some very green options(we used to/or might still do have public bus transportation with a student ID, which would save money on gas and it is sort of like carpooling for example), but could be greatly improved in more ways than just have more vegetarian choices at the cafeteria.
In regard to this issue, one example would be Green Mountain College in Vermont. On campus there is a Student Campus Greening Fund which gets a certain amount of allotted money that comes from a fee students pay. While it is only $30, the students can choose which sustainable project this money will go to. Some of the projects that have been approved for funding include a compost collection program and a repairing a wind turbine on campus.
If another college can get just a mere $30 and save that money to make improvements to the campus, then why can't this be the same way for RCC? Money charged from the student service fees are used for the clubs on campus, but instead could be given to the Sustainability club in order to make the campus more "green". My idea is that like the UCSB idea of using energy created from the gym to power buildings. I think that RCC should find some way to hookup the gym equipment to the gym to power the electricity form the lights etc. This should start small and if it is possible to power the gyms electricity, then maybe the gym could be expanded and power the rest of the buildings on campus. In order to help make this a reality, I would first talk to my environmental science teacher because she is the advisor of the Sustainability club. Since I also know the club president, I hopefully wouldn't have any problems getting my ideas across. From there on, it would be a matter of convincing I believe the board of trustees(?) that money should be given to improve the newly renovated gym. The gym would have to upgraded to make it possible to be powered by equipment. The sum of money for this would probably be thousands of dollars, but Sustainability club could help to fund raise for money. Even if the club was not able to fund raise a lot, the effort that the club put in would show the board of trustees their devotion to the project. Fundraising could be as simple as bake sales(students always spend money on food. This works!~)
A time frame for this project depending on the technology needed might be a few years. But in that amount of time, so much energy could be saved from the gym it would really make a difference. Everything really does count! Plus it would also help to motivate students to gym more and exercise would improve their health and well being.
(Image is courtesy of Google)
it's a shame that you never found anything on the UCSB sustainability as far as using the gym equipment to power electricity, i thought that would be awesome! I think UC Davis might do something similar in the gym located within the housing towers. But it would be a good idea to use anywhere!
ReplyDeleteEven though you couldn't find too much on UCSB sustainability, i really think the idea of electricity powered by people using the gym. I wish RCC could have something like that, but we need a gym that all the students can use and more equipment. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea your friend thought he had heard of through gathering power from the gym. If it were true I can just imagine the football team being able to power the entire stadium of lights. Haha! I so like your idea of adding addition food choices for vegetarians in the cafeteria. It may help the staff to realize may students are now making more healthy food choices and leading away from processed food. I think you have a great idea started with the use of electronic instead of purchasing a textbook and can also be used for notes. Many great ideas you had for our campus sustainability project I wouldn't be suprised if one day something similar is started and used.
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