With environmentally friendly projects, such as the photovoltaic solar panels, Bakersfield College has made it a goal to provide a greener campus while simultaneously?saving the school money. But budgeting issues stand in the way of creating more eco-friendly options for student and faculty.
BC student Alyssa Melendez would like to see more efforts put toward keeping the campus clean. “They should do more recycling and separate the trash. I don’t like that people litter. It really irritates me when they throw their trash on the ground,” said Melendez.
Some students are very passionate about having a greener campus, while others see the efforts as being inconvenient. Amanda Cantu said, “I’m glad that they [put up solar panels], but it just makes the parking situation really bad.”
Most conventional methods of producing electricity require the combustion of harmful pollutants such as coal, oil and gas. John Menzies, BC physical science professor said, “Solar panels do not require combustion in order to generate power. Therefore, once the panels are installed, they should help clean up the air and lower our electricity bill. However, how much of a difference remains to be seen.”
The 1.1-megawatt panels will be completely functional by the end of October and there are additional plans to expand the project.
The BC cafeteria provides recycling bins for cans and bottles and has new refrigeration that uses less energy. They also send out the left over oil from the fryers to be turned into biofuels.?
Food service manager Alex Gomez said, “We are only limited right now because of costs. It’s pretty much cost prohibitive to use all of the green products. We are waiting for prices to come down, but we do sell the wraps in a compostable?container.”
Gomez said that the cafeteria serves an average of 2,500 people a day, which generates large amounts of waste, and they are waiting for cost effective green options that will not pass down extra costs to students.
Student Body President, Lisa English, said that are only about five recycling bins for cans and bottles around campus.
“I’m really bummed out about there not being enough recycling around campus. I have spoken with someone about [starting a recycling club on campus] and it is a Union issue. So now I have to present something showing that it will work where I’m not taking away work from maintenance and also not adding work for maintenance,” English said.
She believes that a recycling program will not only reduce trash, but also save the college money. Although English would love to have a recycling club, it is ultimately up to maintenance to decide whether or not it will be put in place.