The Environmental Club’s Upcoming Plans for a Solar Tree at SCCC
The Environmental Club plans to implement a Solar Tree at SCCC in 2022.
An image taken by the Environmental Club at their most recent tree planting on the Ammerman Campus.
February 10, 2022
Cultivating clean energy sources on campus is just one of the SCCC’s Environmental Club’s latest projects. They’re pushing to adopt a source of energy for students on campus that would reduce dependence on more harmful sources such as oil, gas, and coal.
Carol Malley, a sustainability specialist, and Melanie Morris, assistant director of sustainability at the Ammerman campus, and heads of the Environmental club have pushed to make SCCC more sustainable through the implementation of a Solar Tree at SCCC.
As summarized by group member Mackenzie Robinson the tree is, “a palm tree-sized metal tree that has solar panels and can charge up to 12 devices at once including tablets, laptops, and phones.”
The success of the solar tree is based on student participation and government funding. The group discussed how large-scale projects like the solar tree take a chorus of funding, participation on a student and faculty level, along with school support from non-involved students.
Robinson discussed plans for funding saying, “we found out the National Grid has something called C Project,” a section dedicated to fostering environmental projects. She continued, “we created a presentation for them and through lots of hard work, they granted us funding for the tree.”
The club’s goal is to make SCCC campuses and its surrounding areas more sustainable as Suffolk would be the first SUNY campus to have a solar Tree and the first on the island. Furthering student participation and school-wide support are essential to executing projects like the solar tree. The project began in 2021 and is finally coming to fruition almost a year later. From conception to reality the Environmental Club is making a real impact.