The primary environmental focus in the world right now is climate change; the Earth is getting warmer due to human activities. Driving gasoline/diesel powered vehicles, consuming home heating oil, burning fossil fuels in power plants, or raising farm animals contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). GHGs trap excess heat in the atmosphere, which causes global warming. The consequences of global warming can be catastrophic: melting ice caps and rising sea levels will cause coastal erosion, submerge low-altitude land, and force countless species into extinction. The team found that switching to renewable energies such as wind, solar and bio-fuel can be part of the solution. Project TGIF strives to implement this change through recycling and converting waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel and raising awareness of the problem.

The Westerly Innovations Network or the WIN team is a group of Rhode Island middle school students passionate about community service. They decided to help end global warming by creating a sustainable project that efficiently collects waste cooking oil, refines it into biofuel, and distributes it.

Through Project TGIF, the team collaborated with a company to collect WCO, a by-product of fried food, from local restaurants and from the Westerly transfer station, where they established a WCO receptacle for local residents. From there, they worked with a refinery to convert the WCO into biodiesel. They then used the proceeds to purchase Bioheat® for local charities.

Here is what they have accomplished: