Projects


2017-2018 Projects

 

Enactus Energy (E²)

Beginning two years ago with energy audits, Penn State Altoona Enactus’s Enactus Energy project focused its attention towards energy efficient lighting when we realized the impact it could have on businesses. Through research, our team learned that energy-efficient lighting uses up to eighty percent less energy than conventional lighting while also lasting up to 25 times longer. The audits began with a local cafe and dentist’s office where E^2 analyzed the cost savings of LED lighting, saving them an approximate total of $3,600 per year, and 23,000 kilowatt hours per year. Our team then partnered with the Buckhorn Recycling and Composting Facility and the Sheetz Distribution Center, conducted their light audits,  and projected a cost savings of $30,000 a year for the Sheetz Distribution Center and over $1,000 for the Buckhorn Recycling and Composting Facility. The environmental impact of all of our efforts will result in saving over 2,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. We are developing marketing materials and preparing to launch an awareness campaign with our local economic development organization, ABCD Corp, and Chamber of Commerce to educate businesses on the benefits of energy audits and the savings that can be realized through relamping.

 

Jazzed About Java

According to the National Coffee Association USA, sixty-four percent of United States consumers drink coffee on a daily basis. Penn State Altoona Enactus recognized the need to divert spent coffee grounds from contributing to a landfill. We have partnered with George Bell of Grounds Hog, a local innovative entrepreneur, who is working on the up-cycling of spent coffee grounds. George Bell’s business focuses on converting spent coffee grounds into nutrient-rich compost and an alternative source of energy. George’s vision is to not only keep spent grounds out of the landfill, but to up-cycle them into useful, marketable concepts. Penn State Altoona Enactus has researched and found that java pellets and logs produce eighty-eight percent less carbon monoxide than firewood and saves 6.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions for every tonne recycled. Our team has managed the collection of spent coffee grounds, developed marketing materials, and purchased collection bags and collection containers from our Home Depot with the Unilever Bright Future grant. Penn State Altoona Enactus is collecting over 2,000 pounds of coffee grounds per month, saving an estimated 74 tonnes in CO2 emissions. George purchased a pellet machine and hammer-mill, necessary equipment for the creation of pellets and logs. The pellet machine and hammer-mill will allow our project to evolve from a noble waste-stream reduction effort to a value added, commercially viable operation. Once our partnership can develop a commercially viable product, George will employ at-risk individuals then shift his efforts into increasing the volume and efficiencies. #BrightFuture

 

Project International Impact (Pi²) Bolivia

Penn State Altoona Enactus sent students to Guayaramerín, Bolivia in partnership with Love in Action International Ministries. The goal was to see if opening a coffee shop would be a feasible idea for an orphanage, Andrea’s Home for Hope and Joy. Our team conducted research on local coffee shops near our campus to gather their insights on the ins and outs of operating their businesses. Pi² Bolivia also studied Bolivian culture, trying to further our understanding of their eating habits and how a coffee shop would fit into their daily lives. In Bolivia, our students were able to conduct market research, analyze the landscape of the area, and hold interviews with locals. They had discovered that opening a café would be best for providing a sustainable income for the orphanage and after-school employment opportunities and marketable skills for the older students from Andrea’s Home. They are now working to complete a marketing mix, situational analyses for each target market, and a cost analysis from their findings.

 

Table to Farm

Modeled after the Farm to Table movement, Table to Farm focuses on keeping unused food from our Table out of the waste stream and putting it back to use on the Farm. At a brainstorming session, Penn State Altoona Enactus students who work with food in retail and restaurants noticed that most of the waste was food that could not be donated or re-purposed. The Intermunicipal Relations Committee makes waste their business, but they needed nitrogen-rich materials, such as food scraps, to maintain their compost pile’s necessary carbon to nitrogen ratio of 30:1. “Compost is the best way to repurpose waste. It takes some behavior change but can be easily managed in house.” Penn State Altoona Enactus partnered with the IRC to educate local businesses and schools about an eight-week pilot program for the collection of compostable items. Our team developed marketing materials, solicited businesses and schools for the food composting route, and conducted an analysis of the economics of food composting. With only one business and one school so far, the pilot program is collecting on average over 3,000 pounds of food waste per week. Through the analysis, Penn State Altoona Enactus anticipates that with reduced pick-up frequencies and smaller dumpster sizes, participants will save over $1,000 per year in waste disposal costs. Once the program is established, the IRC anticipates hiring one additional employee to manage the new composting route. Not only is this project helping participants and having a positive impact on landfills, the IRC can more rapidly create compost and free up space at their location. The collected compost will continue to be a source of revenue for the IRC as they sell the compost to landscapers, homeowners, gardeners, and going full circle selling it to the farmers to use on their farm. #BrightFuture