How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
The next time you want to save the environment, try ordering fries in Weinstein.
"French Fry Oil into Biodiesel Fuel" is one of 14 projects NYU's Sustainability Task Force is considering to help NYU reduce its environmental impact in New York City.
The project proposed by CAS senior Emma Marconi seeks to find potential companies that can recycle fryer oil from NYU's dining halls more efficiently while educating the community about the biodiesel conversion process.
According to Marconi, though NYU gives frying oil to a biodiesel conversion company, the company gave an insufficient response regarding the oil's use.
"The thing is we don't [know] too much yet with which process the center is using, whether the vendor is able to turn the oil into useful fuel in the best possible way or whether or not it is the best approach to reducing environmental impact in this way," said Jeremy Friedman, NYU's manager of sustainable initiatives.
Dining hall senior district manager George Hellen said they make a concerted effort to reduce waste with reusable to-go packaging containers.
"Students are often more educated than older people about ways of doing things," Hellen said. "We encourage students to help us find ways that can protect our planet."
There are two steps to Marconi's project: research and education.
"She's going to be doing all the ground-level research that perhaps our staff and my office wouldn't have time to do in order to make the best possible recommendation for how we deal with this oil," Friedman said.
Ready, Willing & Able Resource Recovery, one of the companies Marconi researched in her original proposal, employs homeless New Yorkers and processes the oil for free.
"We're a business venture under the Doe fund, which is a nonprofit that helps homeless men and women get job training and get their lives back in order," said Steve Markowitz, project coordinator for RWA Resource Recovery. "We give training to the trainees within the program so they can get their commercial driver license. So while they're picking up oil for us, they're learning how to drive a truck and they use that skill once they leave our program to try to get a job outside of the program."
If Marconi's research proves the company is suitable, her focus will shift to biodiesel learning initiatives.
"Very few students are aware of this issue and project," Friedman said. "She's going to work with some of the dining halls and dining services to publicize why this is an environmental concern and the benefits of actually recycling this waste oil."
The university's Sustainability Task Force is part of NYU's Green Action Plan. Recipients are awarded $75,000 in grant money.
"I was very excited to receive the grant," Marconi said. "I have attempted this process previously, but I did not make it to the final round. I am honored that my grant will be incorporated into NYU's routine."
