Students Help Local Business Go Green

Keenan's Restaurant in Irondequoit just got a "green" makeover. It's all thanks to some students at Roberts Wesleyan College.

"Across the country, you've got student in free enterprise teams helping different business make energy improvements. So we are just a small part of a much bigger operation," says SIFE Faculty Advisor Carrie Starr.

The improvements were paid for by a grant from Sam's club. Students who are in the "students in free enterprise" program went to Keenan's, found out where energy was being wasted, and fixed it. 

"We realized we could replace a lot of the lightbulbs with cfl energy efficient dimable lightbulbs. We went around the area got lightbulbs and fixed all of that," says SIFE student Mike McGinnis.

"We looked in the kitchen and saw a number of issues in the kitchen, particularly their ceiling tiles. They had areas where they had no ceiling tiles at all and you could feel the cold air coming in, heat escaping," adds Starr.

"We improved the efficiency of recycling as well and installed a power corrector that redirects energy and saves a lot of energy throughout the course of the year," McGinnis says.

It took about 20 students two months to make the changes. The restaurant expects the improvements will not only help the environment. They expect it will cut down utility bills by thousands of dollars a year.

McGinnis adds, "I'm a student at Roberts Wesleyan College. So to be able to come here and do something that is obviously making a big difference for a business and hopefully other businesses to come, you feel like you are a part of something much bigger than just sitting yourself in a classroom."