Kermit the Frog once said, “It’s not easy being green,” but he obviously didn’t go to college in the year 2008.
As one of my extracurricular activities, I work for the Ole Miss yearbook, appropriately called “The Ole Miss.” True, it’s not as exciting as writing for the New York Times or anything, but it’s nice to see your work printed on those glossy pages at the end of the year.
At a meeting last week, the editor announced that in an effort to become environmentally friendly, the yearbook will be printed entirely on recycled paper. Since the price for the publication is automatically taken out of each student’s tuition, that means every student has already done something to help the environment. How easy is that? My student population is helping save the environment and half of the students don’t even know it yet!
Unfortunately, I don’t think this kind of thing makes someone an environmentalist. The good news is that someone can be an environmentalist by using little more effort than writing a check for tuition, and it’s a little less painful, too. Here’s six ways how:
1) Use the recycling bins
I don’t want to accuse our students of reading the paper instead of paying attention in class, but every time I walk into a classroom on campus at Ole Miss I always see at least 30 copies of our daily student newspaper scattered on the floor. However, recycling bins are found on every corner, including right outside the classrooms. This doesn’t make sense. By the simple act of picking up that paper and putting it in the recycling box, you could save a tree. This works for tests marked with a lot of red too, although I can’t guarantee it’ll save your grade.
2) Give the air conditioner a break
In Mississippi, it gets hot. After walking from class to class in the humidity, the air conditioner can be your best friend when you finally get back to the dorm. But did you know that fans use considerably less energy than air conditioners? Think about it: 15 floors holding hundreds of rooms of hot college kids running air conditioners means a steep energy bill for the college at the end of the month, not to mention a possible rise in tuition for in next year. Turn a fan on to save the environment - and your pocketbook.
3) Turn out the lights
Whether you’re in your dorm room or a study room, turn out the light when you leave. This is probably one of the easiest and most practical things you can do to save energy. You can even take it a step further by using lamps instead of turning on the main light in the room. Most colleges use florescent lighting, which uses more energy than smaller bulbs with lower wattage.
4) Ride a bike
Revert back to your childhood and break out the bike again. By doing this you can avoid the high prices at the gas station, help the ozone and save time at the gym. Just be sure to buy a lock.
5) Make more use of your shower
This may be a little more hard core for some, but urinating in the shower can actually be a great way to help the environment. Before you shoot this idea down, hear me out. By urinating in the shower you save the energy of flushing the toilet. If you think this sounds gross, don’t worry. It’s actually sanitary. Your urine actually contains ammonia, and if that’s not enough, the soap you use will be enough to clean it away. On a slightly related note, I recommend wearing sandals in the community showers.
6) Double-side copy
You know when your teacher gives you some long assignment – the kind that requires you standing in front of the copy machine for an hour, waiting on what feels like a copy of the entire Webster’s Dictionary? Well, I don’t know how to save you time, but I can tell you how to save some paper. By using both sides of the paper when copying you can use half the paper for the same length project.