Live Green: Everybody’s Doing It!

If you have any interaction with the outside world (and as college students, I’m assuming you do), you’ve had some brush-ups with the world’s newest obsession—living green.

You’ve all heard the typical pointers—turn off not-in-use lights, watch your air conditioning, recycle, use cloth instead of plastic, etc.—and the neat thing about these tips is that most of them not only help the environment, but save you money. But—you’ve heard them before; so I did some digging and found a few not-so-typical tips to living green.

The “Phantom Load”

Every appliance you have plugged in uses electricity—even when it’s turned off (Don’t think this applies to you? Do you have a TV? Game Station? Cell phone charger? Computer? Blow dryer? Coffee pot? Microwave? Get my drift?). Incredibly, up to 40% of your energy bill comes from this “phantom load.” Solution: Unplug appliances you’re not using. Got a few in the same room? Use a power strip to unplug them all at once.

Dirty Air

Cleaner air makes for a healthier you and a healthier planet, but a lot of college students don’t want to buy an air purifier—plus you have to plug those in, which uses energy. Solution: Buy a plant instead! Less expensive, decorative, and just plain nice to have around, a plant for every ten square yards does the same work as a purifier (a list of the ones that do this can be found here).

“Hi! I’m a twice-a-week vegetarian.”

It takes roughly three times the amount of energy to get that steak on your plate than to get any kind of vegetable or pasta—and almost 30 times the amount of water. Solution: Opt for a meatless meal twice a week and the planet will be a little happier; some would argue that you’re a little healthier, too.

Say “No” to Junk Mail

Let’s admit it—nobody enjoys getting junk mail and over 100 million trees a year are cut down for them. Solution: Go to the official stop-junk-mail site and get your name off their lists; you can get your telephone and email address off lists, too.

Like the tips and want more info? Have an overwhelming desire to be as green as possible? Here’s a few websites that are a good place to start and where I got most of my info:
– http://www.Conservation.org/LiveGreen
– http://www.lowimpactliving.com
– http://www.idealbite.com
– http://www.greenyourapartment.com

Written by: Laura R. Aiuto