Gabriela Marcano
reporter
collegian.editor@tccd.edu
TCC offers recycling and environmental programs for students interested in wanting to preserve the earth and encourage people to commit to sustainability.
Recently, South and SE campuses qualified for the national distinction by the U.S. Green Building Council, which focuses on designing buildings that help improve the environment and quality of life.
Lead architect of the Center of Excellence for Energy Technology Allen McRee said CEET specializes in technologies and concepts that maximize energy conservation to help out the environment.
“Critical to the buildings’ success as a state-of-the-art learning environment for energy-related programs is the goal of having a highly sustainable design,” McRee said. “It demonstrates high-energy efficiency through active and passive systems with the application of renewable resources.”
TCC’s other main focus is reducing its impact on landfills by creating recycling programs to divert that waste into something useful while helping reduce its negative impact on the environment.
According to NE director of facilities operations Michael Tankersley, even scrap metal can be repurposed and used by the staff and students. For instance, using scrap cars as props in fire service training scenarios helps give students a more realistic experience.
“The first major decision we had to make was to determine what type of recycling system would be the most effective for the students and the environment,” Tankersley said. “That’s when we decided to simplify the process by dividing the waste into two bins — brown for waste and blue for recycling.”
On all campuses, TCC’s involvement in sustainability and creating committees to further drive environmental change has made an impact on some of the students who attend.
NW student Sebastian Mendoza said it’s refreshing to see TCC put a lot of effort into providing recycling programs for students and encouraging them to take action to improve the environment.
“I didn’t even know TCC had recycling programs and committees involving sustainability,” Mendoza said. “It definitely opened my eyes to the world around me, and I think I’m going to participate in these programs to help out the environment as much as I can.”
