Dorm Decor

Each year thousands of college students head off away from their families to live the college life. While living “on your own” may mean living with 150 other people in a filthy hallway of beer bottles and crinkled assignments, you no longer have the responsibility to your parents to keep your room clean. There is nothing as sweet as newly acquired independence … for you. But for the environment, it is often a different story.

The last thing on most students’ minds is staying “green” in their dorm room. In fact, an incredible amount of waste is often created both in the dorm rooms and on college campuses in general. Besides the negative environmental effects of careless living in a dorm, it can also be harmful to the dorm dweller. Here are ten eco-tips to help you “green” your dorm room and your college lifestyle. All of these tips will help you save money while saving the environment.

Recyclable Packaging

1. Cleaning Products: For those of you that do choose to clean your dorm room (which is probably not all readers), purchase truly green cleaning products. This does not mean Clorox Greenworks—or other products that have a lone natural ingredient, and therefore are labeled “green.” Rather, read labels and opt for lines of cleaning products from brands like Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyer’s, and Method. Choose a brand that is chemical-free and 100% natural; also look for brands with recyclable (and limited) packaging. Such products are better for the environment, but they are also healthier for you, the consumer.

2. Recycling: Talk to your Resident Assistant and see if you can have recycling at the end of each hallway in your dorm. If your school already does this, great! If not, get a few friends together that can help take the recycling to a recycling center periodically.

3. Electronic Text Books: Opt for electronic text books when possible. If you are planning to buy new books, electronic versions are generally half the price of printed copies. They are better for the environment because no trees are clear cut for their manufacturing, and they are more convenient. Carrying six text books in your bag to the library across campus is quite challenging; but carrying a laptop with electronic copies of six text books is a piece of cake.

Recycling

4. Partying: If you engage in the college party scene, consider your choices from an environmental standpoint. Parties with a BYOB philosophy generally have a significantly worse impact on the environment than ones with kegs. Consider the environmental impact of all of that packaging, rather than the reusable packaging of a single keg. Also, choose organic beer if it is available in your area. Read more about this in the “Green Your Party Scene” article.

5. Clothing Swaps: This may be more applicable to female floors, but consider having a semi-annual clothing swap. Inevitably, people change sizes fairly significantly in college. For some it is the “freshman fifteen,” and for others it is the free gym membership that is assisting in weight loss. Either way, there is a good chance that you will change sizes quite a bit throughout college. Instead of going to the mall (and expending all of that gas) and purchasing new clothing, have a floor-wide clothing swap. Take the clothes that don’t fit, or that you don’t want anymore and trade some out. Borrowing clothes for special occasions can also help both environmentally and financially. The less new products that need to be created, and the more reusing that occurs, the better off the environment is, and your pocketbook!

Water Bottle

6. Water: Bottled water is really handy to have around the dorm room, to take to the gym, or to stash in your bag on the way to class. But try keeping a single stainless steel or BPA-free plastic water bottle around instead. This will drastically reduce the packaging and costs associated with drinking pre-bottled water.

7. Windows: Keep windows covered, especially during the winter and when you are out of the room. This may not directly affect your power bill if you live in college housing, but it will reduce the amount of electricity the college is using to heat your room. In turn this will help the environment because there are less fossil fuels being burned to heat your dorm; it all adds up.

8. Laundry: Unfortunately, you now have to do your own laundry. And when you do, you have a choice of whether to use traditional detergents or eco-friendly ones. The name brand detergents are filled with chemical compounds that leech into the environment when you do your laundry. They also coat your clothing, which is in direct contact with your skin. We recommend using eco-friendly detergents that have the same great cleaning properties without the negative effects on the environment. Often, they appear to be more expensive on the shelves (because they are per ounce). But truly eco-friendly detergent is not diluted, it is ultra-concentrated so you use very little per load. Other alternatives are Laundry Dropps (small biodegradable packets you slip in to each load instead of detergent.

9. Power Use: Consider purchasing a smart power strip instead of a traditional one. These energy saving mechanisms don’t extract power from the grid when you are not using your appliances, which can save inordinate amounts of energy. Research the type of energy saving power strip that best fits your needs prior to making a purchase.

10. Energy Saving 101: When you are done with an assignment, turn off your computer completely instead of just shutting the lid or setting it to hibernate. This can save a lot of energy being extracted from your computer. And as for Facebook, try using it less. Instead of checking the status of your 500 top friends, go visit your real friends!