Ways to Be Green While Living in a Dorm Room

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It’s important to be as conscious as we can about the impact we are making on the environment. As much as you may have focused on protecting the environment before college, it can seem a little more difficult to attempt from a dorm room. Actually, you can still make a big impact while living on campus, and there are many ways to be a little greener.

Recycle, or Start a Program

Recycling is one of the best ways to help protect the environment, and, with landfills overflowing, every little bit helps. Make a note of where recycling depositories are located across campus, and remember to recycle whenever possible. Paper is easy to recycle, and you will probably go through quite a bit of it. It’s also painless to recycle aluminum cans and glass bottles, which will most likely be scattered around your room, as well. If your school doesn’t recycle, talk to an administrator about it or get a petition going.

Save and Protect the Water Supply

Buying a water filter not only saves water and energy, it also saves you money. You will more than likely have to buy some sort of water for your dorm room, and those stacks of bottled water can add up. Another easy thing to do is use products with chemicals that are biodegradable and will not pollute the water supply. You can find greener cleaning and bathing products online or at most supermarkets.

Save energy

Turn off appliances and lights when you’re not using them. This small action actually makes a huge difference in your overall energy consumption. You can also change your light bulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescent light (CFL) or light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, which use less energy.

Be Thrifty

You can buy gently used furniture and clothes from thrift stores near campus. This saves energy, natural resources, and money. If the thought of sitting on someone else’s couch grosses you out, you can still re-sell or donate your stuff at the end of the semester, rather than throwing it away

Change Your Shopping Habits

Buy local produce when possible. It’s fresher, tastes better, and uses up less resources in production. You can also buy a small set of real dishes instead of paper or plastic. Washing them quickly after eating takes a little effort, but you will also be throwing away so much less trash per semester. If you know you’re not going to be able to keep up with dish-washing, you can still purchase items that are made from recycled material or are biodegradable. It is still best, though, to use recyclable plastics, give them a quick rinse, and recycle them. The time it takes for biodegradable products to break down makes recycling the greener option.

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