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Go Green – Tips For College Students

I have been reading about various ways to save energy, recycle, and just “Go Green”, and will be sharing some of these tips with you from time to time.

Now that the school year began,  and the college students are returning back to their dorms and apartments, I figured it is an appropriate time to share  some tips with you.

Books, attire, and school supplies are costly, but you also need to take into account the cost of dorm room decor, which really adds up very quickly if you don’t plan and shop wisely.  You can find great bargains by shopping at Garage Sales, Salvation Army and Good Will  stores, and of course, Craigslist.

College students tend to change their living quarters quite often, host numerous parties (in their spare time), and do not worry much about the longevity of their furnishings.  These items go through lots of wear and tear, and end up in the trash, or stashed away and left behind in attics or basements of these old houses converted to student apartments.  You don’t really want to invest much money into these type of purchases.  Believe me I’ve been there, and watched three of my own college students experience the college life in a similar way.  Don’t count on too many items lasting them through the duration of their college stay, and definitely almost nothing is worth bringing back home.

Here are some additional tips I found, about saving money on books, and energy bills, you might want to encourage your college student to consider.

Tip #1: Give Textbooks a Second Chance

What?

Save money – and preserve natural resources – by purchasing second-hand textbooks.

How?
Most college bookstores buy back textbooks at the end of each semester.

They then resell them to the next crop of students.

Alternately, you can go online to find used textbooks.

Why?
Used textbooks are usually sold at a discount of 25% or more off the price of a new copy. \

At Amazon.com, savings rise to as much as 90% off when you buy from their used textbook store.

Did You Know?
The world loses the equivalent of a forest the size of Greece or Nicaragua each year to meet our paper fix.

Tip #2: Beware of Dorm Room Energy Hogs

What?
Reduce your carbon footprint with these three energy-efficient dorm habits.

How?
First, split a mini-fridge instead of buying two.

Second, change regular light bulbs to CFLs.

Third, unplug your cell phone charger, laptop charger and other chargers when not in use.

Why?
Having two fridges is just plain wasteful,

CFLs are far more efficient than regular bulbs,

and chargers consume energy anytime they’re plugged in to a wall outlet.

Did You Know?
If just 10% of worldwide cell phone users unplugged their chargers after their phones were fully charged, enough energy would be saved to power 60,000 European homes per year.

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