Vance County Schools – Biodiesel 4 Schools Program


Vance County Schools announces a new partnership with the North Carolina based Biodiesel 4 Schools program in an effort to collect used cooking oil from Vance County area restaurants and grocery stores.

 

This is Vance County School’s first partnership specifically designed to create a local, sustainable, agriculturally-based, bio-energy source. This partnership represents the 10th public school system in North Carolina to sign on with the Biodiesel 4 Schools program since the summer of 2012.

 

Through this public/private partnership, Vance County Schools would like to invite and encourage area restaurants and grocery store chains to sell back or donate their used cooking oil to the program. This program is totally voluntary and was designed to cost the participating businesses nothing. In return, Vance County Schools would like to encourage all of its students and faculty members to actively patronize and recognize the restaurants and grocery stores which agree to participate in the Biodiesel 4 Schools program. 

 

The Biodiesel 4 Schools program is an innovative school fundraising company that specializes in the collection and processing of waste cooking oil into biodiesel. In addition, the principle owners of the Biodiesel 4 Schools program have extensive knowledge in the growing and cultivation of canola into cooking oil. By combining this knowledge, the Biodiesel 4 Schools program allows the local communities to keep the energy source local and educate the students about the diverse energy sources that are available to them today. The goal of the program is to demystify biofuels and to create economic development through agriculture where none existed before.

Biodiesel 4 Schools representatives, with the support of the school system, ask local restaurants and grocery stores to participate in the program by donating used cooking oil to be collected and recycled into biodiesel for fuel. The biodiesel can be used for fuel in school buses and other vehicles, such as large trucks. Program officials provide the businesses with collection containers for the used cooking oil and have it picked up on a regular basis at no charge. In addition to recycling the used cooking oil into a positive product, the program allows for funding to go to the schools as a result of the recycling efforts. For every gallon of cooking oil recycled to biodiesel, the school system will receive 25 cents from the Biodiesel 4 Schools program to use for educational services and programs. Some school systems already involved in the program have received $30,000 or more in a year’s time for additional funding.

The benefits of the Biodiesel 4 Schools programs are many and include: additional financial support for educational services; turning waste cooking oil into a usable product; possible savings in using the biodiesel in school buses; creating a positive partnership between the school system and business community; providing a way for local businesses to give back to their community and assist the school system with fundraising needs; getting local residents involved in supporting the businesses and the school system by giving the participating restaurants and grocery stores their business; and helping our community “go green” with a recycling effort that benefits everyone.