The $3100 - $3900 Solar Trash Compactor

At Claremont McKenna, we are used to being lied to by the environmentalists on campus.

First there was the dubious claim that we would reduce waste by eliminating trays. According to our Dan O'Toole, the self-described environmental crusaders distorted the amount of waste they actually eliminated by playing fast and loose with the statistics.

This time around, it appears that they've learned their lesson. Rather than stomach a debate, the forces that be at Claremont McKenna have decided to install $3100 - $3500 machines on campus.

I just got off the phone with Ernest Moniz who is the California sales representative of Big Belly Solar. You might have noticed their products around campus.

Just what are the facts of that product?

Munoz said that the average machine lasts about 10 years and that the bottle and can component of the machine can even be used as a "revenue stream" to help off-set the costs. Of course at $3500 a machine and 5 cents per can returned (not factoring gas or labor used for transport to the recycling place), the number of cans needed to pay for just one machine would be 70,000. Given that the preponderance of the cans is from drinking (only a fraction of which is overage) -- something that the college purportedly is trying to curb-- it might take a long time to pay for those trash cans, assuming students use the cans at all.

Let's assume that the machine lasts for 10 years at $3500 per machine, coming out to roughly $350 per year. The real price, according to Munoz is between $3100 and $3900, depending on the number of machines purchased. Add on top of that the costly fact the battery needs to be replaced every three to five years. Given that batteries and solar cells use rare earth metals in them, that's another hidden environmental cost that the greens don't let you see.

Moniz claims that the number of trips to and from the land fill is reduced by 80 percent, but how would he know that? Doesn't the number of trips depend on the location of the device relative to the closest trash depository? How would they be able to figure that out at all the locations?

Unfortunately, the people who bear this very real costs are the alums who give to the college and the parents who see their children's tuition bill rise year after year. Anyone who claims that environmentalists care about the little people needs to seriously reconsider.

Looks like the college has fallen hook, line, and sinker for the latest environmental fad on our campuses. A word of caution whenever someone in the environmental movement tells you that their product will save on costs, don't believe a word they say.