Earth Day Special: Going green without spending green

20 April 2009 1 views No Comment

On the question of:

What are some ways that college students can go green without spending a ton of money?

A bunch of people posted some really terrific responses. Since today’s technically a holiday in Massachusetts, where the Student Loan Network is headquartered, I thought I’d post this Earth Day idea list up today so that you can get a head start on Wednesday’s celebrations.

I would definitely encourage them to get involved with local politics and environmental organizations. It won’t cost them anything but their time. – Beth Remmes

I own a website that caters to the barter community. I started the site becasue I saw the value one could get through bartering, and in this economy it makes good sense. Since forming this barter community, I have come to realize how “green” bartering is too.

I’ve bartered for many things myself and have seen everything from cars and electronics to vacations and college text books, even many different services advertised on my site. I always thought what a great way to not only save money, but to truly stay “green” in these times of a growing awareness for the planet and I’ve been happy to be able to help. – Joseph Denton

One thing I tell my college students at the University of Oregon is to volunteer at non-profits dedicated to environmental activism. I’m a long-time volunteer at Eugene’s Cascades Raptor Center (www.eraptors.org), and several of my students have volunteered to help rehabilitate injured birds of prey, as well. In my experience, they find this hands-on work more fulfilling than merely changing out their light bulbs! – Melissa Hart

There really are so many that I hardly know where to begin – lol. Creating decorative and unique organizers from cookie trays, plastic jugs and cereal boxes; turning soup cans into beautiful candle holders, small planters for miniature cacti – which do well with neglect – and coffee cans into portable gardens. Shall I go on? lol – Lillian Brummet

Volunteer. Maybe setting up twitter, facebook or my space for a small environmental non profit, or using their skills on a computer to design a brochure. I do some volunteer PR work for The Captain Planet Foundation and they really appreciate it.

Clean a river. We have many local groups that need dozens of bodies to walk in the river and pick up garbage. – Trey Burley

Some easy ideas to go green for students include: carpooling (saves money, carbon emissions, and is fun to boot!), eating one less meat meal per week, and turning down the heater or AC in the dorms. Also, drinking tap water from a reusable water bottle is cheaper and better for the environment than drinking conventional bottled water.

Another great thing is re-purposing stuff. I love to scour thrift stores and estate sales for quirky t-shirts that I can make into bags, skirts, stylish shirts, pillows, etc. It’s incredibly cheap, it’s good for the environment, and you get new stuff! You can sew by hand (cheaper to get into if you’re new to sewing) or find a sewing machine. Many college art and theater departments have sewing machines that you may be able to use during off-hours, or find a community center that offers sewing classes. I have occasionally seen sewing machines at thrift stores, as well. – Andi Enns

Here is a small suggestion. You can cut back on the amount of money that you pay for dryer sheets when you do your laundry. Get a clean cloth, one that is not too large (about the size of a sock). Get a container of cheap face cream. Put some cream on the cloth each time that you plan to put clothes in a dryer. This prevents the formation of static. – Sue Chehrenegar

Reimage your waste with upcycling. Upcycling fashion, art, accessories is a creative way to make a statement and be green. Whether its a handbag from soda pop tabs or capri sun containers, hip desk organizers out of discarded children’s legos, or patchwork blazers made of dicarded, worn or outgrown garments, this is a trend college students will really embrace. – Kelly Ann Bonnell

You may have already heard from someone about this idea, but I figured I would send it along. One great way students can get more eco-involved and save money is through composting and gardening.

Many places throughout the Country are ideal for composting and planting a small garden for some or all of the year. This tip definitely applies more for off-campus living, though some colleges may allow dorm-dwellers to plant a garden near their building. Both gardening and composting are easy things students can do that won’t take too much of their time on a daily or weekly basis.

For the most part, food waste, when it gets sent to a landfill for disposal goes through a breakdown process known as anaerobic digestion. This process, which excludes oxygen in it’s chemical reactions, is the main reason why landfills are one of the leading sources of greenhouse gases, such as methane. Composting food waste does not produce these same greenhouse gases and creates a nice soil amendment that will (1) reduce water consumption where it is introduced to the soil and (2) provide more, slow-released nutrients to plants then chemical fertilizers can reducing the need to add chemicals to the garden.

Students that establish a garden and use compost in it will (1) produce less waste, (2) help reduce water consumption in their outdoor landscaping, (3) reduce stormwater run-off pollution by eliminating pesticides/fertilizers, (4) grow their own healthy food and (5) become more conscious about how our waste (or eliminating it) can have a whole host of positive benefits.

Additionally, in markets such as New York City & Atlanta, the food banks are encouraging folks to “plant a row” for them. Any excess produce can be brought directly to the food banks for redistribution to their member organizations. With the ongoing economic crisis facing many Americans, Food Banks are becoming increasingly relied upon and need products. Fresh produce is one great way to give back to the community and local Food Banks. – Adam Schlachter

FLORIDA

Barry University:

- Trayless for the day

- Encouraging Students to avoid using take out containers

- Running Plant- Based Menu Specials all week with the goal of reducing carbon footprint

Palm Beach Atlantic:

- Dim the Lights

- Peanut Butter & Jelly Campaign

- Local & Sustainable Crudite & Dip Display

Jacksonville University

- Battery Collection—Turn in your used batteries for proper recycling—Kinne Center (Crossroad Café) will have a drop bucket.

- Clothing Exchange – Tired of your clothes? Bring good used clothing & accessories to Kinne Center swap for something you like. Talk about recycling!

Northwood University (FL)

- Offering Sodexo reusable bags.

- Fair Trade Coffee & Grounds for Growth program.

- Recycle mug promotion.

- Diming lights.

Rollins College

- Offering Sodexo reusable bags.

- Fair Trade Coffee & Grounds for Growth program.

- Recycle mug promotion.

- Diming lights.

GEORGIA

Georgia Tech

- GT Dining is serving organic boxed lunches; we are hosting a farmers market, and we will be providing a veggie burger grill station (to minimize personal carbon footprints).

Savannah College of Art & Design:

- Special Menus to reduce carbon footprint by using less energy

- No Styrofoam will be used all week: Only Eco-Friendly products will be used: Including Utensils, cups, to-go boxes & brown express napkins, this will result in a 30% to 40% increase in our cost

- Lights will be turned off in different sections of the dining halls all day for entire week

- Our Weigh the Waste program will run for the preceding two weeks and will culminate on Earth Day

- We currently use bulk condiments and tray less dining

- We will continue with our identifiers: posters, Power Point on plasmas and napkin inserts

Georgia College & State University:

- Outdoor picnic to celebrate the outdoors of the earth on Earth Day. All paper items used will be recycled and anything else that can be recycled will be.

- Featuring an area where they can add up their carbon footprint, find out more information about how to go green, and register to win a reusable gift bag with a Sodexo water bottle, organic food items, energy saving light bulbs, reusable shopping bag, a tree planted in a rain forest, and other sustainable items.

- We will have local artists playing and the recycling bins. We will also provide activities such as Frisbees and footballs.

NORTH CAROLINA

Methodist College

- Will be featuring organic items at each station all week and will have the punch cards for the students. At the end of the week they will give out reusable bags to all the students who have their card punched completely.

UNC Pembroke

- Will feature organic products at their stations all week, they are also working with SGA to plant a tree on campus.

North Carolina A&T

- Will feature organic products all week at every station. All stations will feature signage about reducing our carbon footprint.

North Carolina Central University

- Will have a sampling of organic fruit and vegetables. Featuring one sustainable items at each station.

- Will have a Clean tech truck from Piedmont Biofuels on campus demonstrating how they recycle our grease from the kitchen into biodiesel fuel. We will also pass out recycle mugs and bags.

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina State University

- Will have a sampling of Organic fruits and vegetables on Earth Day.

Presbyterian College

- Running – Earth friendly/low carbon foot-print type foods.

Spartanburg Methodist College

- Low carbon footprint meal and going trayless for the day.

USC Upstate

- We are running the vegetarian/low carbon footprint items each day at lunch.

Converse College

- Converse is running the low carbon footprint specials at the JIT station and using provided POS in dining hall.

TENNESSEE

Belmont Univeristy

- They are running the PBJ day

- Last week ran one event where the entire school turned off ALL the electricity for one hour on campus. They served a meal on top of one of the buildings that did not require any cooking. It included pick up sandwiches, chips, cookies and water. Biodegradable products were used. They were trying to decrease the amount of energy they used for one hour to see how much was saved during that time period.

Cumberland University

- Doing a cookout and using all of the biodegradable products.

Lipscomb University

- Erase the Waste campaign: they are measuring how much waste they have left during a day. Managers are displaying the amount in lbs. and dollars to the students so they can see it. They are trying to make students aware of the waste left on their plates.

- Massive list submitted by Monica Zimmer of Sodexo

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