The green tips for first-year students and outgoing seniors started as a project proposal by Liz Doane as a part of her BIO 345 Conservation Biology class. The class project joined together with student congress as a part of the congress' Green Initiative that was passed this year.
The green initiative reflects student congress' push for a more environmentally friendly campus.
The green tips on this page are just the beginning stages of the green initiative. Special thanks go to Professor Jurzenski and student congress for their support of this project.
Incoming Students
-
Invest in silverware and washable dishes instead of plastic and paper.
-
See if a friend or someone you know has old furniture like lofts and futons that will let you use for your dorm. Make sure to check and see if your dorm allows outside furniture first.
- Recycled paper notebooks and printing paper are just as affordable as regular bleached paper.
- There are cheap and affordable water filters like Britta that effectively clean the campus water so you don't have to continuously buy bottled water.
- Nalgene bottles and travel thermoses are perfect for taking your favorite drinks to class, and they can be reused hundreds of times.
- Paper or plastic? NEITHER! Try bringing a canvas bag with you to the store!
- Air drying clothes saves energy and laundry money!
- Want some sweet new clothes for college? There are plenty of clothes made from eco-friendly fibers like hemp and bamboo that make a great green statement at school.
- Try going trayless in the cafeteria. This saves water that would be used to wash the not so necessary trays.
- Instead of driving to class, try biking or walking.
- If you bring a lighting fixture, equip it with compact fluorescent lights to save energy.
Outgoing Students
- Instead of buying brand new furniture, see if anyone you know has furniture they no longer need or check out a second hand store that sells furniture.
- Replace the existing light bulbs with energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) if they aren't already. This saves energy and money on the electricity bill.
- Investing in energy efficient appliances may be a bit more costly, but they save money and energy in the long run.
- If you plan on owning a pet, there are green ways of "waste disposal". For cats, try natural litter like Feline Pines. The more chemical and clay free, the better. For Fido, try biodegradable doggie bags when you are on a walk.
- Try forming a carpool with coworkers or riding the bus instead of making that commute alone in your car.
- Love your cup of java in the morning? Try buying coffee that has the labels "fair trade", "organic" or "shade grown".
- Thimbles are little attachments you place on faucets that prevent the flow of water from getting out of control and wasting more water than intended. These can be found at most hardware stores.
- If you have a lawn, push mowers are a great gas-saving workout!
- Fragrance-fee and natural cleaning products are the best way to go. Powerfully smelly cleaning agents are known to cause asthma and those antibacterial cleaners sound like a good idea, but they are actually helping create antibacterial resistant bacteria.
- Washing with cold water is the most energy efficient and still effectively cleans clothes.