How to stay green even after Green Week ends

  Last week was Green week at Muskingum College. More attention is being focused towards the environment today than it has ever before.
  "The climate crisis is the foremost political, social and economic issue that we face today. We need to make quick, decisive action before it's too late," said junior Rachel Thompson.

  Do you want to be eco-friendly? Do you want to save money?
  "Some individuals make a conscious effort to recycle as well as conserve, but the majority of people feel inconvenienced by the idea of conservation," said Thompson.

  Many students would be comforted to know that there are easy and small changes in our lives that could drastically change the environment for the better.


  Here are ten simple ways to go green:

1.    Don't use plastic water bottles. According to a 2008 article on http://collegejolt.com, by Brenna Pitt, there is not proven differences between the safeties of drinking bottled water verses tap water. Save money at the grocery and drink from a fountain!
 
2.    Unplug appliances while not using them. Even when not in use, many cell phone chargers use up electricity by simply being plugged into an outlet. Some students will use a "smart power strip" which has an on/off switch. So instead of unplugging all of those cords, you can simply flip a switch.

3.    Recycle your electronics. Many people have old cell phones, laptops, TV's, etc. But many students don't know that these items can be recycled. Muskingum's Tri-beta, the biology honorary, heads up a fundraiser called "Eco-Cell Muskingum Chapter". Eco-cell is a cell phone recycling program operation around the nation. Junior, Jessica Lade introduced this fundraiser to Tri-beta and kicked it off. The used cell phones that are collected are sent to the Eco-cell and are reused or recycled.

4.    Make your own cleaning products. Instead of buying non-toxic cleaning products, students can save money by using ingredients such as baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap.

5.    Use reusable bags (canvas bags) for shopping. Usually most college students don't have the luxury of buying a cart load of items. According to a 2008 article on http://collegejolt.com, by Brenna Pitt, pretty much every grocery store now sells reusable shopping bags (for less than $1). The local Zanesville Wal-mart and Dollar Tree carry these bags. There is also a larger selection at Ecobags.com, Reusablebags.com, and at Pacsun in the Colony Square Mall located in Zanesville.


6.    Use refillable pens. Every year, many students bulk up on bags of pens. Where does all that plastic go once the ink has run out? Instead of using all of this plastic, buy a single pen and simply refill it once the ink has run out. This is eco-friendly and can save money.


7.    Turn off the water. According to a 2009 article on www.thedailygreen.com, by Trish Smith, leaving the faucet running while brushing your teeth can waste up to 1.3 gallons of water. So, for all those who do this, save it for the fish! Taking longer showers also cause this problem. According to this same article, by Smith, just by reducing your shower time by two minutes, you can save up to 1,000 pounds of CO2 from being emitted into the air. This is because you are using less electricity to heat the water. While conserving the electricity, you are also conserving water!

8.    Reuse paper. Paper is taken for granted. Wal-Mart sells 70 sheets of notebook paper for approximately $1.00. So paper isn't hard to come by. But it is overused.  Paper can be reused by using the backside. Paper can also be recycled. The Muskingum College Library has blue trashcans for recycling paper. The BOC also has a recycling area for paper as well.

9.    Wash clothes in cold water. By using cold water to wash clothes, there will be less electricity used. In turn of using less electricity, there will be less CO2 released into the atmosphere. This also saves your clothes from heat and color damage!

10.    Set your thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer to save on heating and cooling costs as well as CO2 emissions.