Spring Break
Students can go green
Lauren Ostrov
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: NEWS
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It doesn't require a big lifestyle change to go green. In fact, most students, faculty and staff members could boost their environmental contribution with just a few small decisions.
Paper waste is one of the biggest problems affecting the NT recycling program. Recycling coordinator Doug Turnage said the main issue is that students and others on campus don't realize how many different kinds of paper can be recycled.
"We can take pretty much everything as long as it isn't tissue, paper towels or has touched food," Turnage said.
This includes computer paper, sticky notes, spirals, cardboard and posters. Once the paper is collected, NT sells it for money to put back into the program. Turnage said that NT recycled 363 tons of paper and cardboard during the 2006-07 school year.
"If that had been thrown away, it would have cost the university $29,000 to dispose of," Turnage said.
Instead, that paper was sold for $31,000.
Nicole Thurman, an Arlington senior, said she has been thinking a lot about being green lately. She said she tries to recycle as much as possible, but it can be hard to find a bin between classes.
"I'm more inclined to throw it out if I can't find one," she said. "I don't have a lot of time to look."
Turnage said the most likely place to find the blue bins on campus is near the entrances of the buildings. Taking the extra time to find a bin can pay off for students and the university in the long run, as NT uses the money to grow its recycling program.
Another way to go green at school is to "digitize." With many classes being held partially or completely online, it is easier for students to reduce the paper load of their classes. Students can limit what they print to only what is necessary for class and leave the rest, such as entire textbook chapters, on the computer.
Instead of printing out researched Web sites, students and staff can bookmark the sites in a folder and visit them as necessary for reference. Recycling old printouts after assignments are complete or at the end of the semester can also help ease the paper burden.
Green at home
Whether it's a dorm room, apartment or house, going green at home can be simple. One of the most basic steps students can take is making the decision to turn off the lights when they leave a room.
The U.S. Department of Energy recommends turning off all incandescent lights when they are not needed. This type of bulb uses only 10-15 percent of the energy it consumes to produce light. The rest of the electricity it uses gets turned into heat, which can increase the temperature of the room itself and add to cooling costs in the summer.
Fluorescent bulbs, on the other hand, are more expensive to buy, and their lifespan is affected more by the number of times they are switched on and off. As a result, the Department recommends turning off the lights only if the room will be left empty for more than 15 minutes.
To take energy efficient lighting a step further, consider using compact fluorescent bulbs. While CFLs may be a bit more expensive, they pay for themselves 500 hours into their 10,000-hour life spans. They also produce less heat and use about a quarter of the energy that incandescent bulbs do.
Home décor can play a part in lowering energy use too. Windows are notoriously inefficient when it comes to sealing in heating and air conditioning. Blinds and drapes can help immensely in maintaining the temperature of a room.
At night, closed drapes will not only keep prying eyes from seeing in, but also keep heat and air conditioning from escaping through the window. Opening the drapes during the day can allow sunlight to help maintain a stable room temperature.
Green caffeine
Many college students and faculty rely on a constant stream of caffeine to get through the day. Coffee is one of the mainstays of campus life, but many students overlook its negative environmental impact.
Another way to keep the daily caffeine fix environmentally friendly is to stop using tea bags and disposable coffee filters.
Tea infusers and reusable filters can easily replace their counterparts without affecting the quality of the beverage brewed. If bags and filters are used, using biodegradable or unbleached brands will offer alternatives that can break down easily in landfills.
On campus, there are also large bottle-shaped bins designed to collect plastic bottles and aluminum cans. NT recycles 300 pounds of aluminum per month through those bins, but it could be more, Turnage said.
To calculate the cost to the university of throwing away a bottle instead of recycling, he figured out that each time the university had to empty one of the trash compactors on campus, it costs about $450. He then further broke down that price to a 30-cent cost to empty each cubic foot of trash.
Then, he built a container that measured a cubic foot and filled it with as many bottles as he could. The overall cost came to one cent per bottle lost to the trash.
"I understand that people forget, but when I look at the trash, I wonder how much of that does not need to be thrown away," Turnage said.
Michelle Minukhin, an NT alumna, said she began buying biodegradable products and making more of an effort to recycle.
"On the whole, it has only improved my lifestyle," she said. "I don't find it inconvenient at all."
Turnage agrees that being conscious is still a problem.
"So many times I have seen usable stuff in a trashcan that was right next to a recycling bin," he said.
While students today are more informed than ever about the benefits of going green, there is still room for improvement.
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