RALEIGH, N.C. --- Shana Cothran couldn’t contain her excitement as she videotaped the big blue bus sitting in her school’s parking lot.

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“I want everybody to see the stuff they can do,” Cothran said. “Even if it’s small stuff, like recycling at school, it can still help.”

 

The big blue bus is part of BioTour, a unique non-profit program traveling the country teaching about sustainable energy.  Cothran is a junior at Ravenscroft. She’s president of the school’s environmental club. She saw the bus as a global warming conference in Washington, D.C. in November.

 

“I started talking to them and got to thinking this would be really cool at school,” Cothan said. “It’s not like people are going to start converting busses and cars, but it’s got people thinking and that’s good.”

 

BioTour started in April. Four friends converted an old school bus into an eco-friendly camper and classroom. It runs on vegetable oil and carries solar panels on the roof to provide electricity.  The rolling bedroom, kitchen, office and classroom has visited high schools, colleges and community events in 40 states. 

 

After a day of talking with students and giving tours of the bus, the BioTour visit ended with a fill up.  The fryer grease from Ravenscroft’s cafeteria worked nicely.  That made the entire visit a hit.  Students liked the idea of using fryer grease to make the wheels on the bus go ‘round.

“This is a step in the right direction for the future,” said D.J. Dover, a Ravenscroft student.

 

“We have the energy-efficient light bulbs they talked about in our house,” said Erin Carroll, another student. “We want to try some of the other ideas so I’ve learned a lot.”

 

Fernando Ausin, a member of BioTour, said he meets many students like Carroll, who are excited about helping the environment.

 

“We’ve met people from all over who are very excited and thrilled to know there are alternative solutions,” he said. “It’s getting more expensive to buy oil, and it’s a finite resource we’re wasting, and there are renewable energies out there.”

 

After a day at the school, the bus heads to New England. The group hopes to return North Carolina in the spring.

 

“I hope the students learned something about renewable and sustainable energy,” said Alan Palm, a co-director of BioTour. “They asked plenty of good questions, so even if their families do one or two things, it was worth the trip.”