Palo Alto lives green year-round

By Daniel Perez
Pulse Staff Reporter

Environmental concerns are causing many individuals and organizations to change their lifestyles into a greener version. Palo Alto College began its journey in January of 2008.

In 2010, students, staff and faculty of Palo Alto recycled more than 56,385 pounds of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal containers, beating their 2009 total by 6,000 pounds. Now that the college’s recycling program is well established, the Go Green! ¡Viva Verde! Committee is expanding into other areas.

A new bike-sharing program will allow students, whose classes are across campus, to ride a bike from one location to another. This will prevent more auto emissions from entering the Earth’s atmosphere, improving campus’ air quality and giving students a chance to exercise.

“The whole point is, so that people will jump on a bike instead of jumping in their car to drive across campus, which is not good for our air quality,” said Dr. Denise Barkis Richter, associate professor of Communications. Poor air quality is a leading cause of asthma, she said.

The goal for the bike-sharing program is to be up and running sometime this spring. Richter is hoping the program will eventually have 100 bikes around campus. Currently, the Viva Verde Bike Program has had 22 bikes donated.Alamo Body and Paint is donating the labor and materials to prime the bikes’ frames. When the frames are returned to Palo Alto, volunteers will paint the bikes day glow green.

Palo Alto's Recycling Volunteers

Jimmy Hover from Blue Start Bike Shop will offer workshops to teach students how to assemble and maintain a bike, and Lydia Kelley, the San Antonio/Bexar County Bicycle/Pedestrian Transportation Planner, will teach bike safety classes.

For more information on the bike-sharing program and how you may help, contact Richter, the ¡Viva Verde! committee’s chair, at (210) 486-3237 or e-mail her at drichter@alamo.edu. The ¡Viva Verde! Committee will have an environmental booth at PACfest, on April 14, 2011. They will provide environmental information and give away trees and reusable shopping bags. The committee will also have a book swap. To participate, bring gently used books or magazines to the Facilities Office throughout March. For more information on the committee and to take Viva Verde Pledge, go to www.alamo.edu/pac/vivaverde

Students are also doing their part to go green by signing up for Earth Hour, where individuals all around the world turn off and unplug lights and nonessential electronic devices for one designated hour.

Earth Hour is a volunteer act that encourages individuals, businesses and governments to conserve energy and to become aware of environmental changes. According to earthhour.org, more than 1.3 billion people participated last year by turning off their lights. This year’s Earth Hour is on March 26, 2011, at 8:30 p.m. local time.

“I think Earth Hour is amazing, I think it’s real exciting, and I only hope that everyone participates,” said Tiffany Barrientes, a senior Nuclear Medicine Major at The University of the Incarnate Word who also attends classes at Palo Alto.

This year’s Earth Hour is all about going beyond the designated hour. Earth Hour officials encourage individuals, businesses and governments to change their outlook to a greener version. For more information on how you can participate and the history behind Earth Hour, go to www.earthhour.org.