American River College is a more sustainable, green campus because of Don’s tireless efforts.” “He has been involved in countless college initiatives, including Earth Day, waste diversion and recycling, Tree Campus USA and so much more. “Don has done an incredible amount of work supporting sustainability at American River College,” Greene said. ARC President Thomas Greene recently applauded the work that Reid has done for the school. Reid’s efforts and contribution to campus haven’t gone unnoticed. There, Reid pitched ARC’s model towards sustainability to representatives from nearly every California university. Reid’s efforts got him the opportunity to speak at a CHESC conference. His efforts culminated in 2013 when the new cafeteria was opened and it was announced that they would no longer be using styrofoam products. He approached the ARC’s Student Senate and Eco Club and got them to jump onboard. As a faculty member, Reid saw it as an opportunity to get students involved. He made it a point to not try and tackle the problem alone. One of his farthest-reaching projects involved getting rid of styrofoam cups in the cafeteria, a possible carcinogen and environmental pollutant that Reid felt could be replaced with a better alternative: recyclable paper cups. “I’d rather be in the background, but somebody needs to be the face for this stuff,” Reid said. Reid also started programs like the Acorn Awards, which reward departments for their dedication towards sustainability.Īccording to Reid, being in the forefront of so many projects is against his nature. Reid would go to other departments on campus and help identify where they could “go green.” Soon Reid began to expand his eco-vision into other parts of the campus. He started making more eco-friendly choices such as using organic ink and buying paper that had less chemicals in it, making it more sustainable and also safer for employees of the print shop. Reid immediately started a five-year plan that would turn the “old-school” print shop into a mean-green printing machine (with a heavy emphasis on the green). “I didn’t have the experience of managing a print shop, but what I did have was knowledge on how to future-proof this place,” Reid said.Īccording to Reid, it was his ability to think ahead that eventually landed him the job. Reid applied for the job a second time, but had doubts about getting the position since he was up against 100 other applicants with more experience than him. “I did not meet the minimum qualifications I didn’t have a degree,” Reid said.Īfter a couple of months, however, Reid got an email from ARC saying that they changed the qualifications and that the experience on the job would count towards a degree. One day Nicknig informed Reid she was going to retire and recommended Reid to apply for her position, but when he applied he was turned down. Nicknig had visited Reid’s work several times to seek ideas to improve her print shop and became good friends with Reid. One of those visitors was Marnell Nicknig, who was running ARC’s print shop at the time. “We had a lot of vendors who would bring in their customers and see how we utilize their equipment,” Reid said. Don Reid poses in his print shop at American River College on Nov. With Reid’s efforts toward sustainability and eco-awareness, ARC was designated as an official Tree Campus USA in 2017.īefore Reid started his career at ARC, he was working as a graphic designer at the San Juan School District print shop, which had state of the art technology. “I am also an ARC sustainability representative of ARC Buildings Ground and Safety Committee and a representative of California community colleges for the Steering Committee.” He currently heads multiple committees focused around eco-friendly ideas. It is the first change of many to come for Reid and his new role as supervisor for the printing services department at American River College.Īs head of the largest print shop in the Los Rios Community College District, Reid has plenty of hard work ahead of him, but over the years, he’s taken upon himself to add even more responsibilities to his workload. Reid picks up the ancient typewriter and tosses it into the nearest trash can. The fluorescent lights cast a sickly green hue over everything. The small station consists of gray barren walls, an old desk, a squeaky chair and a dusty typewriter. Don Reid walks into the tiny office that he plans to soon call home.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |