While students spend spare change and dining dollars in vending machines across campus this year, UB will be saving $21,000 for becoming the first university in the country to completely replace its snack machines with energy-saving green technology.
In recent years, UB had doled out $50,000 annually for energy costs to power its vending machines. With the recent addition of new Pepsi Energy Star machines, the yearly bill has been cut almost in half.
Walter Simpson, UB Green energy officer, said he realized how much money the old vending machines were costing UB and decided to explore conservation options in 2003.
According to Simpson, there were limited conservation options that suited the university's needs, and after learning about the Pepsi Energy Star vending machines, he informed Mitch Green, executive director of Campus Dining & Shops.
Pepsi won the new vending contract in August 2004 and its vendor, Dixie-Narco Inc., supplied UB with 132 energy-efficient beverage machines, according to a press release. After the addition of the new machines, UB continues to look for future vending options to save energy.
"As Pepsi replaces beverage machines for us over the next few years, we expect to see more Energy Star-rated machines, and currently we only have Energy Star-rated machines for Pepsi beverages," Green said. "We are exploring what types of energy-efficient snack, hot beverage and frozen food machines are available with our vending operator."
The Pepsi vending machines replaced the previous Coca-Cola machines and were well within UB's price range.
"Compared to traditional machines, the new models are not only more environmentally friendly, but there wasn't an appreciable difference in the cost," Green said in a press release. "They work just as well as the old machines."
Energy Star is a government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. UB replaced their previous vending machines not only to save money but also to help the environment.
"As far as I'm concerned, the new machines are not just important for saving money on energy, it's even more important UB does its part to protect the environment," Simpson said.
The green vending machines have proved to help the environment.
"The energy savings at the University of Buffalo are preventing the emission of over 200,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas," said Kate Lewis, marketing manager of the EPA's Energy Star program in a press release.
"The University at Buffalo is showing the world that partnerships between business and environmental concerns can lead to results that benefit everyone," Lewis said.
For many students, the changing of the vending machines went unnoticed.
"I didn't even notice that there were any new or different vending machines around campus," said Lynette Golson, senior communication major.
According to Larry Cronyn, a sophomore cognitive social science major, the vending machines are the least of UB's problems.
"Saving energy is great and all, but I am sure there are larger, more important issues to focus on before they worry about energy-saving vending machines," he said.
The UB Green office is the environmental advocacy office for the university, which encourages university facilities to conserve energy in various ways possible.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
