TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Project R.O.S.E. (Recycled Oil Saves Energy), the volunteer used motor oil recycling program for the state of Alabama, recently received the 2003 Best Environmental Education Program in Alabama award from the Environmental Education Association of Alabama. Project R.O.S.E. is headquartered in the chemical engineering department in The University of Alabama College of Engineering.

The project awarded was conducted in collaboration with the Upper Tallapoosa Watershed Committee and the Randolph County Extension System. Randolph County had no collection sites for do-it-yourself used motor oil. Project R.O.S.E. purchased and placed eight tanks throughout the county. The tanks were purchased with proceeds from the annual Run for the Roses 5K Race.

Randolph County residents learned about the Project R.O.S.E. used motor oil collection program through educational materials printed for classroom distribution. A contest was developed to reward schools for taking used oil to the collection locations, and approximately 600 gallons of used oil were collected. All eight collection sites remain in operation and continue to collect used motor oil.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Science, Technology and Energy Division funds project R.O.S.E. For more information about Project R.O.S.E., visit the Web site at www.eng.ua.edu/~prose/.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.