With fuel costs still at record high prices, people everywhere are searching for ways to help the environment and save money. At Penn State Wilkes-Barre, they've started a carpooling service designed to cut energy costs and make life a little easier for the campus community. A ride-matching, web-based service known as CarpoolWorld.com helps commuters find easy ways to get to the Wilkes-Barre campus via carpools and vanpools. It's a great way for faculty, staff and students to cut-down commuting costs and reduce the amount of pollution emissions.
Members of the Wilkes-Barre campus can begin using the service by visiting www.carpoolworld.com/psuwb. Signing up is simple, and once a person enters their trip details into the system, carpoolworld.com goes to work by matching potential commuters with other travelers that have similar transportation needs. After a match has been made, registered users then contact each other by phone or e-mail.
Another green initiative on campus is the twenty year-old recycling program. Recently, students, faculty and staff collected over 14,500 pounds of products ranging from paper and plastic goods; to glass and aluminum cans. In 2003, the program earned an award from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for the greatest pounds of recycling per student, first among colleges in northeastern Pennsylvania. "What pleases me about the program is how long it has continued, and that it's a comprehensive program involving the entire campus, recycling both the common items such as paper and bottles, but also unusual items such as Styrofoam and discarded catalogs. We find a home for discarded books and many other reusable items," said Thomas Winter, physics professor and head of the recycling program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
For more information contact Mark Gregorio, public information coordinator at 675-9269 or visit http://www.wb.psu.edu/.