Every student today is aware of the need for green behaviour or environmentally friendly thinking. Whether students choose to go green in their eating practices or they choose housesitting or other eco friendly travel options they are conscious of their impact on the environment. Read on to learn just how green the thinking is in colleges today.

Environmentally friendly thinking in colleges

Student accommodation – Heavy use of resources

College dormitories are busy places and usually full to the rafters with young people and their friends. They often consume significant resources and generate a lot of waste due to the sheer number of residents. However, there are ways to go green on campus and to think green as students.

Given that student accommodation is always full of residents there will be heavy energy use. We know that college dormitories consume large amounts of water, electricity, and other natural resources every day. And not just in term time. Universities and colleges also rent out the accommodation in holiday times to ensure the rentable space is earning for the benefit of the college. They also produce large amounts of waste products due to the sheer numbers of residents living in a small space.

Can students live a green lifestyle in this environment?

However, there are ways for college students to live a green lifestyle despite their cramped environment. They don’t even need to drastically alter their dormitory lifestyle. It is possible to lessen the amount of environmental impact that a college dorm makes, or that the students make when living in the dorms.

Student stress creates other challenges

Of course, when students are overwhelmed with the demands of their courses and deadlines it can be harder. It can prove more difficult to remind them to turn off the lights – they will likely be studying late or pulling all-nighters to meet deadlines. They might forget about recycling waste when they are reaching for a third can of Coke or chocolate bar in the small hours of the night.

There are ways of lessening the stress. They can start assignments earlier, or they can ask for help. In this case, it is an option to hire a writer for an essay. Supportive essay writers can provide assistance at multiple levels and in various languages. It can help students meet those deadlines to heave this extra tutoring.

Watch Water Usage

College students consume large quantities of water every day.

Between drinking from water fountains, showering, washing clothes, using sinks, and cleaning purposes, each dorm resident can use up to several gallons of water in just a couple of hours.

Multiply that by the number of residents in one hall, and then all the halls on campus and the quantity of water skyrockets.

However, it is possible to save water and still live a clean, hydrated life.

• Take shorter showers.
• Turn off the water while brushing teeth
• Use less water when washing dishes.

If shorter showers are out of the question, reduce the number of showers taken throughout the day. On average, one 10 minute shower uses four to five gallons of water at a time.

Multiple showers a day add up to lots of water going down the drain.

Using Less Electricity in a College Dorm

It’s hard to watch the amount of electricity being used in each dorm.

This is especially true when one room has little to no control over what residents in another room or on another floor are consuming.

However, there are simple ways to reduce the amount of electricity a student consumes:

• Turn off the lights before leaving for meals or class
• Unplug unused electronic
• Turn down the heat before going home for the weekend.

These are all good ways to reduce electricity, improve the environmentally friendly student behaviours without drastically changing the student lifestyle.

Laundry and the clean student

In addition, residents can reduce the amount of laundry done each week. They can use the machines only when they have a full load of clothes. And another trick it to make sure you are washing clothes in cold water. Cold water does not use as much electricity since it does not need to be warmed by a hot water tank. And fewer loads of laundry means that washers and dryers are used less often. This in turn uses less electricity.

This is also a money-saver for students, as washing clothes less often wills save them money. And a side benefit is that washing in cold water means that clothes are less likely to shrink ensuring clothes last longer!

Reusing and Recycling

Many colleges and universities are putting recycling bins in residence halls. This is a clear reminder to create a greener living community. If these are available, students should follow school recycling protocols and encourage fellow residents to do the same. If recycling bins are not available, students should ask to install containers for recycling.

Students can reuse things they would normally throw away in a college dorm to save money and the environment. Refilling water bottles or using them to hold pens and pencils keeps the plastic bottles out of landfills and helps to reduce desk clutter. This also saves money by getting more use out of a case of bottled water.

To save paper, students can print assignments on both sides of a piece of paper, ask somebody to “write my essay for me” or reuse old flyers as scratch paper to take quick notes. Making lists on old pieces of paper, instead of getting a new piece, prolongs the life of a piece of paper and stretches a pack of paper so it is bought less often.

Getting Others Involved

Students who want to get others involved should talk to their dorm’s residence life staff about establishing green programs throughout the building, such as a recycling contest among the floors or providing incentives for turning off water and lights.

Going green in a college dorm does not have to mean drastically altering one’s lifestyle. With a couple of quick changes, a college dorm resident can lessen their impact on the environment, and save some money while doing it.