Mahopac High School teacher Christine Honohan's Life class got a chance to see innovation in action firsthand when they visited the WIN Waste Innovations Refuse-to-Energy facility in Peekskill, NY on November 28th. Students in Honohan's class have been learning all about food systems at every level of industry, from manufacturing to transportation and, ultimately, waste.
"It was great to see that the trash that we throw away can be used to make electricity," said Yesenia Lewis. "They have this big pipe that goes out of the facility so that they can even reuse the steam at a local business."
Students toured the facility, seeing where trucks dropped off burnable waste and having all of their questions answered by the on-site technicians. Students were shown diagrams depicting how refuse is burned to create energy and how both the water and air that is released from the facility back into the environment are strictly controlled and processed to prevent pollution.
"I never would have guessed how much energy you could produce with trash," said Nijal Newman. "I thought that it might power a few houses, but the facility powers tens of thousands of homes."
Mahopac High School's Life class provides students with a unique chance to work in a low-stress environment that supports every other aspect of the student's development, often extending beyond academics. Trips like the one to WIN Waste Innovations serve to expose students to possible career paths for both college and high school graduates and real-world problem-solving.