TONAWANDA, N.Y. — Some University at Buffalo students got a lesson about the environment, cost savings, and business models, but this was your typical assignment done in a lecture hall.
Instead, they worked with local companies to help reduce their carbon emissions and develop plans become more "green."
The students were tasked with coming up with ideas that wouldn't cost companies money or that had a slight cost upfront but a bigger payoff later.
At times it was a challenge, especially when you consider how environmentally friendly some of the companies already are.
Take for example Triad Recycling and Energy in Tonawanda. The company takes materials destined for the landfill and recycles them so they can be sold for other purposes. Wood and metal are removed the mattresses, and the foam and fiber are also broken down and reused.
Triad also runs entirely on wind power, and extra electricity goes back into the grid — so what could the students possibly do to reduce waste, save money, and help the environment?
Their plan was simple — make drivers turn off their trucks, which are powered by natural gas — but the idea ended up saving the company a lot of money.
Triad estimates they saved $1,500 in fuel costs during the month of May, and they say that could save $25,000 a year or more.
Students also worked with National Grid and reduced its carbon footprint by turning down the thermostat a few degrees at their location in Buffalo. Again, it's a simple idea with a big impact.
"[Their ideas saved] over 900,000 pounds of carbon this year, and that's the equivalent of taking 90 cars off of the roads of Western New York for a year," said Elizabeth Thomas, assistant professor of geology at the University at Buffalo.
UB Senior Todd Glosser is now interning with Triad and trying to develop a way to use the waste left behind when laundry detergent pods are made.
"To be able to have the opportunity to work with a business, as well as my internship here to do day-to-day work, hands on, there's no better learning experience like it," said Glosser.