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Life West’s plan to go green features O2D2, the air scrubber

The inside of O2D2 glows with color.

By now you may have heard of O2-D2 from Life Chiropractic College West’s e-newsletter, The Voice. Or maybe you’ve popped your head into the campus bookstore and you’ve seen the contraption firsthand.

O2D2 sits in the Life West Bookstore.

The algae-based air scrubber is quietly improving air quality around the Hayward, California campus by absorbing carbon dioxide in the air and turning it into oxygen.

Life West faculty member Dr. Andreana Mevoli brought the idea to Michael Baldwin, Life West Campus Operations Manager, several months ago as a way to circulate more oxygen through campus halls. Baldwin built the algae scrubber from scratch.

“We were experimenting to try and use natural methods to improve air quality, and this method worked,” Baldwin said. “By harnessing the power of nature, we are improving air quality for our students.”

As part of the school’s green initiative, the algae-based air scrubber will be deployed in various classrooms to help improve the environment for Life West students, staff, and faculty.

The college is working on other updates around campus as well. Other projects to improve student life include replacing the fountain in Sid Square with three 16-foot palms, which happened in the past week. Those small trees will also help to increase oxygen flow. Students will also find wooden utensils in the Café Au Life, to replace plastic silverware, and a new schedule has classrooms being moved to the Standard Process Assembly Hall, or SPAH, and to room 110 to accommodate larger class sizes. Moving the classes to different rooms also helps keep oxygen levels up in the areas that must accommodate larger numbers of people.

According to Baldwin, O2D2’s family may be growing in the next couple of weeks — there are plans to build two more of the algae-based air scrubbers.

Dr. Anatole Bogatski, Life West Executive Vice President, said these changes will help students in the long run, as well as making sure Life West is a green campus.

“We’re very conscious of the need to improve the quality of life of the students,” Bogatski said. “We’ve got their best interests always at heart. That’s why we’re here and that’s what we do. Our mission in life is the students.”

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