As we work on our January 2009 issue, where we will highlight 10 Green Fleets Across America, I’ve been thinking about all the ways school transportation departments and bus companies can reduce, reuse and recycle.

We’ve come across several operations that are finding innovative ways to save both the environment and the resources and dollars available to them. From recycling office waste to heating facilities with a waste oil burner to using solar energy and alternative fuels, we’ve seen many exciting examples of the efficiency and environmental responsibility that can be achieved through “green” efforts. In Hawkins County, Tenn., they’re even recycling buses!

Last month, I saw a story online about the Hawkins County Board of Education giving one of its surplus buses to the local Emergency Management Agency to be converted into a mobile command center. Apparently, the Hawkins County EMA’s director had collected the necessary electronic equipment, including a radio, but didn’t have a vehicle to use until now.

The Board of Education traded the surplus bus for two other buses that had previously been donated to the EMA but were not in good enough condition to serve as the mobile command center. They will be sold at auction.

I’ve heard of surplus buses being converted for other uses before, and even seen some very impressive conversions posted in the SBF online forums. But I was especially pleased to see that, in this case, a school bus will be put into service for the public good, just as it was meant to in its original form.

Have you seen a school bus with an interesting or unusual second life? Leave a comment or send us an e-mail (with photos, if you have them!) at info@schoolbusfleet.com.

--Claire