What Can I Do?
Have you ever looked wide-eyed at the amount of recyclable materials in the trash in your dorm or your office and felt despair? Do you feel overwhelmed by rising consumerism, global climate change, over-packaged food and reams of paper being wasted? Do you hold a vision that a meaningful, even artful existence is possible without devouring the planet?
Starting this year, this week, with tonight’s dinner, you can put your best foot forward to reduce your ecological footprint. Moving toward sustainability can be viewed as making lives sparse and boring… or engaged and artful. The Dartmouth Sustainability Initiative holds that Sustainability is about having the most fun at the lowest impact. So we invite you to join the Dartmouth Sustainability Initiative in promoting life on a responsible and healthy campus. Together, we can make Dartmouth the number one campus in sustainability.
Here are some starter tips for making small but important changes throughout your day. See the links to the above right for more detailed information on how to be Sustainable at Dartmouth and beyond.
- Lower the temperature and close windows when the heat is on.
- If you can, eat local, organic and in-season food and less meat.
- Identify and repair drafty windows, doors, or areas (call FO&M for campus repairs).
- Choose Energy Star appliances such as refrigerators, lights and washers.
- Extend the life of computers, cars, bicycles, clothes, etc. by taking care of them.
- Lower the temperature in your dorm or home by two degrees. To compensate, wear warmer clothes.
- Install two or more compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Dispose of hazardous materials properly (this is easy at Dartmouth! See recycling).
- Shut down your computer when not in use or put it in sleep mode.
- Save paper by printing duplex, using recycled paper, and using dry erase boards instead of flip charts.
- Buy used books.
- Reuse paper that has been used on one side.
- Do as much work as you can on your computer before printing documents.
- Donate old office material and furniture to charity.
- Try to repair appliances before replacing them.
- Use public transportation, such as Advance Transit, which is free.
- Take a train or bus instead of flying.
- If you have to drive, purchase a hybrid or fuel-efficient car.
- Eat "for here" instead of "to go."
- Conserve food by only taking as much as you can consume.
- Frequent dining facilities that serve foods with minimum packaging.
- Compost.
- Recycle.
