{"id":163392,"date":"2024-05-31T13:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T17:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=163392"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:13:16","slug":"a-welcoming-bus-stop-and-bird-safe-windows-are-among-new-2023-24-green-grant-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2024\/05\/31\/a-welcoming-bus-stop-and-bird-safe-windows-are-among-new-2023-24-green-grant-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"A welcoming bus stop and bird-safe windows are among 2024 Green Grant initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Alan Wang \u201924 studied abroad in Kyoto, Japan, as a junior, he relished the seamless transportation options \u2014 bicycle, bus, train \u2014 that delivered him to classes at Doshisha University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when Wang worked for the Maine Secretary of State\u2019s Office last summer, he had to drive from Lewiston to Augusta, and it was a different experience. \u201cExhausting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following semester, Wang read Better Buses, Better Cities. <\/em>\u201cOne of the takeaways is people don’t use buses because buses don’t make themselves known to people,\u201d said Wang. \u201cA lot of students don’t even know the bus stop at Bates exists. Building a bus shelter is the best way to remind them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Alan
Alan Wang \u201924 of Jiaozuo, China, hopes the seed money he was awarded from the Green Grant program will be used to land more state and federal grants to build a more substantial bus stop at Bates near Gomes Chapel. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those experiences sparked an interest in public transportation advocacy, so he went to work, doing research and turning to the college\u2019s Green Innovation Grant program<\/a>, which awards funds to Bates community members for projects that make Bates and the community more environmentally sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the spring, Wang received a $2,000 Green Grant \u2014 one of four grants totalling $8,000 dispersed from the program this year \u2014 to help fund the construction of a more prominent and welcoming bus stop for the new Portland\u2013Lewiston commuter bus line slated to begin later this year<\/a>. The project was one of four Green Grant projects funded this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The enclosed bus stop will be built near Gomes Chapel by the Maine Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee. While the $2,000 grant will pay for a fraction of the final cost \u2014 around $40,000 to $50,000 \u2014 of the new Bates bus stop, the private funding from the college also will help secure other matching state or federal transportation funds.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang has met with community leaders in Lewiston and Auburn in his effort to bring an attractive public bus stop to campus, one of several new enclosed bus shelters in the two cities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Alan
Alan Wang \u201924 of Jiaozuo, China, used his $2,000 Green Grant \u2014 one of four grants totalling $8,000 dispersed from the program this year \u2014 to help fund the construction of a more prominent and welcoming bus stop for the new Portland\u2013Lewiston commuter bus line slated to come online in 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201dHis advocacy for transit is strong,\u201d said Larry Allen, the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee director. \u201cAlan espoused the benefits of consolidating transit activities between the two lines at one location on campus. This eliminates confusion and allows for the bundling of resources, such as infrastructure and capital resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a Bates politics degree now in hand, Wang, who is from Jiaozuo, China, will test his new interest in urban planning this summer in the Lincoln (Maine) County Regional Planning Department as a transportation planning assistant. \u201cThis internship will give me a great lens on if I actually want to pursue this as my career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second funded proposal from Gianluca Yornet de Rosas \u201924 of Mendoza, Argentina, who used his Green Grant to team up with Facility Services to add the first bird-safe window treatment at Bates. The idea came after he witnessed bird fatalities from strikes on the windows of his residence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gianluca
Gianluca Yornet de Rosas \u201924 of Mendoza, Argentina, used his $2,000 Green Grant to team up with Facility Services to add the first bird-safe window treatment at Bates. The idea came after he witnessed bird fatalities from strikes on the large windows of his residence. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yornet, who hopes to go into environmental conservation work, grew up in the South American region around the Andes Mountains, where he was fascinated by the Andean Condor, the largest raptor in the world. The environmental studies major also knew that bird strikes on windows are a leading cause of avian mortality \u2014 resulting in up to an estimated 1 billion bird fatalities annually, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the reflective and mirror qualities of window panes, birds often can\u2019t detect the glass barrier. Yornet\u2019s $2,000 grant funded the purchase and installation of several adhesive bird-safe window treatments that use tiny patterns to alert birds to the window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hopes it\u2019s a good start. \u201cMaybe if it stops the birds from colliding with the windows and dying, other students might continue the project, or this will be adopted into other buildings. I wanted to make sure it got done, even if it doesn\u2019t solve the whole issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green
Gianluca Yornet de Rosas \u201924 enjoys watching the ducks in Lake Andrews, just as he used to watch the native birds around his home in Argentina, including the great Andean Condor. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another Green Grant grant will fund the installation of signage aimed at lessening contamination in recycling in residences. The idea was the brainchild of Caroline Mayer \u201926 of Wolfeboro, N.H., and Sarah Smith \u201926 of Severna Park, Md., two EcoReps who worked the past year on improving recycling habits around campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signage will be placed right where students live: their rooms. \u201cWe have good signage in all of the trash and recycling rooms, but the sorting is happening in the dorm room, not once you’re down in the trash room,\u201d said Tom Twist, assistant director of sustainability at Bates. \u201cBy then, it’s already done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signs, affixed to the back doors of rooms, spell out the recyclable material \u2014 cardboard, plastic, paper containers, glass, and metal \u2014 and that all other items should go to the landfill. \u201cWhen in doubt, throw it out,\u201d say the signs designed by Smith and Mayer, who plan to target first-year residences to instill good recycling practices at the start of their time at Bates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liza Bell \u201926 of Putney, Vt., won a GIG to resupply tools for the Bates bike shop, a much needed purchase after a theft last summer depleted the supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grant helped fund 30 new tools as well as a new lock system for the nine loaner bikes available to students. In addition, Bell said the grant helped keep those loaners in the Ladd Library gear library in good working order. As a result, usage increased this spring, with all nine bikes checked out much of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project will contribute to the school’s green bike share program which makes biking on campus more accessible. By having the necessary tools and locks we will be able to continue to expand and improve the program,\u201d Bell explained in her proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was updated on November 3, 2025 to reflect more recent information on the number of birds killed each year from window strikes. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This spring, three of four $2,000 Green Innovation Grants \u2014 totalling $8,000 \u2014 helped fund or start three new sustainability initiatives at Bates: a bus stop, bird-safe window treatment and recycling signs for residence-hall rooms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1705,"featured_media":163439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[30,232,31,217,220,234,11009],"tags":[3125,11532,10830,7372,11177],"class_list":["post-163392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civic-engagement","category-environment-sustainability","category-lewiston-auburn","category-science-technology","category-service","category-teaching-education","category-the-college","tag-ecoreps","tag-green-innovation-grants","tag-lewiston-auburn","tag-recycling","tag-tom-twist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1705"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163392"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171041,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163392\/revisions\/171041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}