in yesterday's newspaper
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704250314
Vegetable oil fuels LACS students' project
By Topher Sanders
Journal Staff
ITHACA - Students at Lehman Alternative Community School are hoping
to spread the word of environmental stewardship and save their school
some money by converting a 17-passenger conventional fuel bus to
vegetable oil fuel.
The effort is part of a project by LACS's service class, a program
all LACS students must complete for graduation.
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Students in the class participate in service projects like making
weekly visits to the Louis Gossett Jr. Residential Center to work
with the center's residents. The class also takes an annual trip to
the Akwesasne Freedom School at the Akwesasne Native American
Reservation for cultural exchange.
The travel eats up money and pollutes the environment, said Jon
Raimon, community studies coordinator for LACS.
"Our school has been really pushing for sustainability, so it seemed
crazy that I would be taking kids out and polluting the environment
on our way to do service," Raimon said. "Every year we're dropping a
$1,000 just to rent a vehicle to make the trip to the Akwesasne
Freedom School."
The 17-passanger bus was donated by a private donor, and the class
was able to use the vehicle at the end of the 2005-06 school year.
Now the class is focused on reducing the carbon emissions caused by
the bus.
A $1,000 grant from the Ithaca Public Education Initiative will pay
for the parts needed to convert the bus to veggie fuel. The bus will
be able to run primarily on cooking oil discarded by restaurants once
it is converted.
Students are excited about converting the bus.
"I thought it was a really cool project, but I'm also interested in
the idea of teaching younger kids about the importance of doing
things like this and actually doing something about global warming,"
said Meghan Wood, a graduating senior at LACS.
When the veggie oil-fueled bus is ready, LACS students will take the
vehicle around the community for outreach.
"We're going to ... teach kids about sustainability and alternatives
fuels and how important they are," Raimon said. "The hope is to nudge
public transit and the Ithaca public school system towards this
direction."
A specialist from Ithaca Biodiesel will show LACS students how to
convert the bus to veggie oil fuel next week.
"We're going to be the ones actually in there doing it all and
setting it all up so that we are totally informed on how it works, so
we can teach other kids how to do it," Wood said.
Raimon said transmission troubles sidelined the project for several
weeks. Sure Shift Transmission in Newfield gave the class a discount
on fixing the transmission, but the class is still raising funds to
cover repair costs. The bus' ongoing maintenance will also be the
class' responsibility and will require significant funding, Raimon
said.
Raimon's students have written several applications for grants to
help finance the bus' maintenance. The bus will be on display during
a May 6 benefit concert for the Akwesasne Freedom School.
Concertgoers will be able to contribute toward maintenance during the
concert, Raimon said.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
Elan Shapiro
Sustainable Tompkins Program Co-Chair
Sustainable Living Associates, Principal
Frog's Way B&B
211 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-275-0249
"We must be the change we want to see in the world"
Mohandas Gandhi
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