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View from the Valley
MOTHER NATURE
The solar array, constructed in 2010 on our Industrial Studies building, is intended to limit the amount of CO2 emissions and produce eco-friendly power. So far it has produced over 99.99 MWh. This number is equivalent to 154,835.61 pounds of CO2 emissions and the planting of 1,169.92 trees. In 2020, a 1.1-acre plot was planted in conjunction with Wabash Valley Service Company, IB Executive Turf and Landscape, Wabash Valley Stewardship Alliance, and Southeastern Illinois Farm Bureaus. The goal was to provide a habitat for pollinator species and promote awareness/education regarding the value of pollinator species to our local economy and the impact planting perennials has on soil quality. In May of 2021, a swarm of honeybees was discovered swarming outside of a WVC employee's office. A member of our very own administration suited up and transferred the bees into a bee box which was relocated to our pollinator plot on Oak Street in Mount Carmel. In 2021, Wabash Valley College decided to turn our campus into a Certified Wildlife Habitat to make a lasting difference for wildlife. The National Wildlife Federation's website urges communities to be proactive because "rapid and large-scale changes to our lands and waters mean wildlife are losing the habitats they once knew. Every habitat garden is a step toward replenishing resources for wildlife such as bees, butterflies, birds, and amphibians-both locally and along migratory corridors." We proudly display our certificate showing our campus provides native species and animals with food, water, cover, and places to their raise young. Wabash Valley College began planning for sustainability in 2010 with the formation of a committee known as the 255 Initiative. The 255 Initiative has taken on several major projects since its inception: instituting a campus-wide recycling program, the installation of a solar array on campus buildings, converting light sources on campus to LEDs, and establishing our campus as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
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