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What YOU Can Do

BECOME A VOLUNTEER!

 We need community input! Please fill out the WPI Sustainability Interest Form and show us your areas of concern, as well as your interest in volunteering.

 

• For your new dorm room, buy recycled – shop eBay or Craigslist for your back-to-school items (or get stuff free from Freecycle around your area)
• Power strip for your electronics
• Ceramic mug and dish ware – don't bring disposables
• Cold water unscented detergent
• Cleaning cloths instead of paper towels
• A non-electric carpet sweeper
• Cfl  bulbs
• EnergyStar computer monitor
• Organic cotton sheets (it's still the same cottony goodness, but you'll rest easy knowing it's grown without harmful pesticides)
• Water filter, or stainless steel water bottle
• If you are buying a mini fridge, consider one with high EnergyStar rating

 

• Use compact fluorescent light (cfl) bulbs which use 20% less energy of incandescent bulbs of similar brightness and last 8 times longer. 
• Look for light emitting diode (LSD) bulbs.  Lasts 100,000 hours!
• Unplug your chargers when you're not charging. Every room is full of little plastic power supplies to charge cell phones, PDA's, digital cameras, cordless tools and other personal gadgets. Keep them unplugged until you need them.
• Enable the "sleep mode" feature on your computer, allowing it to use less power during periods of inactivity.
• Don't waste paper!  Proof your document on the computer before printing it.  Store final documents on disk rather than making a final copy. 
• Check whether your printer can print on both sides and change your settings at WPI Helpdesk's Duplex Printing Frequently Asked Questions. 
• Buy recycled paper.  Buying recycled paper saves energy, water, air emission, and landfill space.
• Many electronics – TV VCSs, DVD players, etc. draw as much as 100 watts/hour even when turned off.  Avoid the drain and plug them into a power strip that you turn off when not watching TV.
• Plasma TVs use almost 4 times the energy of standard TVs.  LCD flat panels use somewhat less than plasma. 
• Close window curtains to keep the heat out in the summer and the heat in during the winter.
• In the winter, turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater.  Every degree you lower the thermostat can save energy. 
• It's tough to find environmentally friendly clothes.  Cotton is one of the world's most chemical-intensive crops.  Look for clothes with natural organic or chemical free fibers. 
• Find more on how to 'Green your closet' with this Green Living Tips article.
• Refrigerators account for 14% of energy bills.  So don't stare into a fridge with the door open.  Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for setting temperature controls so you don't waste energy, and avoid over-filling the refrigerator, as this blocks air circulations and uses more energy.  Conversely, a full freezer will perform better than an empty one. 
• If you have a dishwasher, run it only when it is full, and save 10-20 gallons of water a day.
• The higher your food is on the food chain, the more energy that's required to produce it: Add more fruits, vegetables and grains to your diet. Limit red meat consumption.
• When shopping, buy fresh. Avoid frozen or extensively processed and packaged foods.
• Buying local is a good bet for reducing pollution and the energy used to transport, store and refrigerate food.
• According to a recent study, the average American household wastes 14 percent of its food purchases. But it's not just the food that is being wasted -- all of the water and energy that went into producing, packaging and transporting the discarded food also goes to waste.
• Most of this food waste ends up in landfills, where it releases methane pollution as it decomposes, further contributing to global warming.

 

• Refrigerators account for 14% of energy bills.  So don't stare into a fridge with the door open.    Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for setting temperature controls so you don't waste energy, and avoid over-filling the refrigerator, as this blocks air circulations and uses more energy.   
• The higher your food is on the food chain, the more energy that's required to produce it: Add more fruits, vegetables and grains to your diet. Limit red meat consumption.
• When shopping, buy fresh. Avoid frozen or extensively processed and packaged foods.
• Buying local is a good bet for reducing pollution and the energy used to transport, store and refrigerate food.
• According to a recent study, the average American household wastes 14 percent of its food purchases. But it's not just the food that is being wasted -- all of the water and energy that went into producing, packaging and transporting the discarded food also goes to waste.
• Most of this food waste ends up in landfills, where it releases methane pollution as it decomposes, further contributing to global warming.

 

• Take shorter showers. Every one minute in the shower uses 4-6 gallons of water.
• A leaky toilet will waste 200 gallons of water daily.  It takes only a few minutes to replace leaky parts, so contact your RA to get the leak fixed right away.
• Turn off the water when you brush your teeth. 
• Recycle your toothbrush (By Green Living Tips). Over 25,000 tons of toothbrushes end up in landfill in America each year. Find out more about it on this Green Living Tips article.

 

• Drive slower.  The faster you driver, the more wind resistance you build up, and that uses more fuel.  So ease up on the highway and you'll go further between fillips.
• Car care.  Maximize your gas mileage by proper maintenance.  Old spark plugs can substantially reduce fuel economy.
• Join WPI's Zipcar.
• Can the car.  For every mile that you walk, bicycle or take mass transit, you will keep 1.3% of green house gasses out of the atmosphere for every gallon of gas that you don't use.
• Check your tires weekly to make sure they are properly inflated and improve your gas mileage. 

 

• What goes where? Help make WPI more sustainable and reduce our amount of trash by recycling. In order to find out how to do so, and what items are acceptable, check our Materials Management page.
• It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than to make it from raw materials.  Significant savings comes from recycling glass, plastics, paper and steel.    Look for recycling bins around your resident hall and classrooms.
• Giving away or selling used electronics are great ways to extend their use and keep them out of landfills. The EPA and eBay provide lists of organizations that accept donations of used electronics. Some services provide second-hand computers to schools or nonprofits, so your old computer could become a valuable tool for someone in need.  (NRDC) 
• If your computer is beyond hope, WPI has an electronics recycling program.  Just talk to your RA about submitting a work order to Facilities. Facilities will remove and recycle your computer, but don't forget to remove all your data first!
• If your recycling bin is stuffed with catalogs you never read, put an end to the pile with the free Catalog Choice service. Catalog Choice lets you select the catalogs you don't want to receive and sends your requests directly to the merchants. 
• Join WPI in Recyclemania in January and compete with colleges and universities around the nation to help eliminate waste!
• If you're tired of the same old clothes, hold a clothing swap on your floor.
• Instead of tossing your gently used small appliances and clothes at the end of the academic year, bring them to a recycling bin that will benefit local nonprofits.  Bins will be out two weeks before our move-out date. 

 

• Wash in cold water with cold water detergent.  90% of the energy to wash clothes goes to making the water hot.
• Save money and 6.5% of greenhouse gasses per load by skipping small loads until you've got enough clothes to fill it up!
• When you go home, hang clothes outside to dry. Not only will you save 6.5 pounds of greenhouse gases, your clothes will smell fresher.
• Clean the lint filter in the dryer after each use.

 

For more information, visit

The Natural Resources Defense Council

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

The Official Blog of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Earthday Tips

EPA Greenversations.

Discovery's Planet Green

 

 

Maintained by webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: August 24, 2009 11:10:30