USF St. Pete received $75,000 from Duke Energy, $50,000 of which is being used for sustainability efforts on campus. ORACLE PHOTO/ALEXANDRA URBAN
Duke Energy, an electric company that strives for cleaner energy generation, has invested $50,000 toward the USF St. Pete campus to reduce the university’s environmental footprint.
USF St. Pete spokesperson Matthew Cimitile said new additions to the campus include four “level-three” electric vehicle charging stations.
Additions also include solar-powered study areas and 32 new recycling bins for residential halls.
Duke Energy also invested $25,000 into the Oceanography Camp Especially for Girls – a three-week summer program for young women in Pinellas County hosted annually by USF St. Pete’s College of Marine Science, Cimitile said.
USF initially partnered with Duke Energy in 2014 to fund a $1 million solar-photovoltaic installation, which stores solar energy in batteries, according to Duke Energy’s website.
Cimitile said he hopes Duke Energy’s latest additions will help students become more engaged with sustainability.
“When you encounter things like EV chargers, solar arrays, water bottle refill stations, you’re engaged with that type of stuff,” Cimitile said. “You see it and it influences you.”
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The level-three electric vehicle chargers at the St. Pete campus are the fastest type of EV chargers provided at USF, according to USF and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The chargers are a part of Duke Energy’s Park and Plug pilot program, and are accessible to anyone with an active USF parking permit.
These chargers will be able to provide up to 100 miles per 30-minute charge, according to USF St. Pete.
The solar-powered study areas will grant students an additional station to charge devices, according to USF Newsroom.
Cimitile said students living on the St. Pete campus had been requesting more recycling options on campus. This prompted the campus to use $2,000 of the $50,000 investment toward recycling bins for residential halls.
The recycling bins have not yet been implemented because the St. Pete campus is making final decisions on bin placement in the halls to accommodate student use and preferences, Cimitile said.
“My hope is that once we get those recycling bins in place, students are really recycling,” Cimitile said.
He said the initiatives aim to make recycling more convenient for students.
“Interacting more with that technology and that sort of lifestyle, I think is just important for students to encounter,” Cimitile said.
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Leon Hardy, a St. Pete professor of sustainability studies, said it is “good” that Duke Energy is investing in the university.
Hardy said he sees the initiatives as a step forward for the university, and he hopes this change will benefit sustainability studies at USF St. Pete.
He said he was also glad to hear that the Oceanography Club Especially for Girls is receiving funding from Duke Energy to help young women gain hands-on experiences.
Still, Hardy said he hopes to see more investment in other sustainability initiatives at USF St. Pete.
Building awareness around recycling and renewable energy use could help motivate students and the community, he said.
“We [have] to start funding the proper things here…to create an environment where the educational institution is really more supportive than it is,” Hardy said.
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Cimitile has been a staff committee member for the Student Green Energy Fund, a student-led sustainable organization, since 2020.
He said he plans to meet with SGEF to develop mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of recycling in residential halls.
“Sustainability in general, a lot of it is more just simple lifestyle changes that you can do and the goal should be [that] those lifestyle changes should be easy to do,” Cimitile said.
Cimitile said implementing sustainable practices into daily routines can help reduce personal environmental footprints.
“It doesn’t seem like much, but things like recycling or like replacing more LED lights can go a really long way,” Cimitile said.