Finals Week Spring 2012:

Finals week stressing you out? Well, it’s stressing the environment too. Think about it – during finals week, your lights are on longer and later, you’re working through paper like nothing else, eating and throwing out tons of packaged food and bottled water – it’s a bigger impact than many would realize. Of course, let’s not forget that at the end of the year, cleaning out your dorm room in going to be stressful and wasteful swell. We all know the old tips and tricks about de-stressing yourself, but how can we help the environment? Here’s a few good ways:

1. Recycle your books. It’s the end of the semester, and you probably don’t need that calculus textbook anymore – nor do you probably want it! Instead of throwing it out, or just letting it sit around unused. Why not “recycle” your books by selling them to friends, acquaintances, random people on Facebook, or even back to the bookstore. Not only will you save paper by not having to have another book printed (the laws of supply and demand will take care of that one) but you’ll also make back a good portion of your money to buy your own books for next semester – which you also can and should purchase used and from others. Of course, on either side of the transaction, don’t sell or buy books that aren’t in good condition.
2. Shut off your computer. You heard me right. Well, read me right. When you study, shut off your computer. Maybe add the iPad and smartphone to that too. You’ll save a ton of energy – you won’t be using nearly as much power – but you’ll also save time.  Shut down that computer and study, and by the time your done you’ll have time to goof around on Facebook.
3. Eat healthy snacks. I know, it sounds like something your mother told you when you were at home. Remember the SATs? AP tests? Your teachers probably reminded you to bring two things – something to write with and a healthy snack. Well, healthy snacks are good for more than just you. They do boost brain power, and don’t put preservatives and other chemicals into your system, but they also don’t do that to the environment. An apple, or a banana is entirely biodegradable, and will therefore be much healthier for the environment too.
4. Donate your stuff. Cleaning out your room? Don’t throw out anything – not that T-shirt you got for free from a club you’re not in, not that TV that you never used and won’t need next year ’cause your roommate’s is bigger, not even that tissue sitting in the corner. (OK, throw out the tissue. Please.) Almost everything you don’t want anymore, and that you can’t sell to a friend can be donated to charity. There are plenty of people in this world who could really use that old jacket you won’t need anymore since you’re graduating and moving back to Florida. Of course, our good friends supply and demand (full post about them coming soon!) will help prevent more waste.
5. Pass! There’s nothing more sustainable than not having to retake a class.

Good luck everyone!

Celebrate Earth Day the Easy Way!

The Earth flag is not an official flag, since there is no official governing body over Earth. The flag holds a photo transfer of a NASA image of the Earth on a dark blue background. It has been associated with Earth Day. Although the flag was originally copyrighted, a judge ruledhttp://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CopyrightLaw/Copyrightability/articles/EarthFlagVsAlamoFlag_A.shtml that the copyright was invalid. Earth Flag Ltd. v. Alamo Flag Co., 154 F. Supp. 2d 663 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Earth Day everyone! Created simultaneously in 1969 by Senator Gaylord Nelson UNESCO‘s John McConnell and first celebrated on April 22nd, 1970, Earth Day is a celebration of all things awesome about the environment. Here’s some ways to celebrate in a sustainable way:

1. Go outside! It’s nice out. Go play catch, take a bike ride, play a game of soccer. Do something outside. The only energy it will use is your own – nothing more environmentally friendly than that!
2. Recycle last night’s cans. I’m talking to you, college students. We know you partied. Just make sure those cans get recycled, ok?
3. Buy a water bottle. A reusable one of course. Buy a gift for mother nature – and yourself – to celebrate. The 5 dollars you spend today will mean a lot more savings to you and the planet down the road.
4. Make a donation. Donate to an environmental chariot – the NWF, WWF, COEJL, etc.
5. Make a commitment. Today is the day you start doing something sustainable. Commit today to start using a reusable shopping bag, or to walk to work instead of taking the subway. If (and when!) you’re successful, add another one on next year!

Enjoy!

Keeping Cool While Staying Green

Spring is here. There’s absolutely no denying it. When it’s 80 Degrees in Syracuse in mid-March, and similarly – abnormally – warm

across the country, environmentalists all seem to take the opportunity to remind the world about global warming. I’m not. Today, I’m going to talk about how to keep cool in this heat in the most sustainable way possible.

1. Dress appropriately. This might seem obvious, but when it’s warm, you should wear lighter clothing. These temperatures are not the appropriate situations to wear many layers. Still have that awesome sweater you wanted to show off? Unfortunately girls (and guys), it will have to wait until next year. Of course, dressing appropriately is a simple way to keep yourself cool, no matter where you go.
2. Open the windows. Again, it’s simple. Opening the windows allows for a flow of air in your home, providing not only relief from the staleness of air that makes the heat feel much worse, but also creating a cross-breeze which will cool your home. Oh, and by the way – it costs no energy, so long as you don’t keep your air conditioning on at the same time.
3. Close the windows. While this might seem like a direct contradiction to the previous point, it’s situational. If you decide to use air conditioning, rather than good-old-fashioned wind, make sure you close your windows, doors, etc. This is in order to seal your house, and therefore to make the air-conditioning system more efficient, and therefore using less energy and costing you less money.
4. Drink water. One of the worst side effects of heat is dehydration – which in turn exaggerates the way you feel the heat. Keep drinking water all day to stay hydrated. Of course, if it’s cold, you’ve got an added cooling bonus. Make sure you’re using reusable bottles, or at least recycling your water bottles.
5. Stay outside. It’s nice out. Go play outside – throw a frisbee, play some soccer – or even read and do homework outside. It’s not going to be much cooler inside, so why not take advantage of the fresh air? Plus, if you spend time outside, there’s no energy costs!

Enjoy the weather everyone!

Spring into the Holidays with Green Ideas!

Both Easter and Passover, two cornerstone and quintessential Spring holidays, are fast approaching. Here’s a few things you can do to make your holidays more environmentally friendly, as well as having some good old family fun!

• Grow Your Own Easter Basket Grass:
  • Check out this post from Smiling Green Mom, an awesome Eco-Blog (Which is now becoming a part of Eco18)
  • As a quick summary, growing your own grass means no unrecyclable plastics littering your home or local landfill. It also gives you a fun family project that will save you money in the end.
• Grow Your Own Seder Plate
  • Passover is a Spring holiday, and is partially a celebration of new life. Why not celebrate the rebirth of plants by growingyour own?
  • The Passover Seder required a variety of herbs and vegetables, many that can be grown right in your kitchen while it’s still too cold outside.
  • Try using a an old tin can as a pot, and fill it with some soil and some parsley seeds. Water it for the next few weeks, and enjoy!

Hope you all get to use some of these tips! Have more tips for the holidays? Let me know!

5 Tips for a Sustainable Super Bowl Party

Sunday is perhaps the biggest, most important day of the year – The Super Bowl. The NY Giants and NE Patriots will be dueling it out in vicious rematch of 2008′s memorable Giants upset of the undefeated Patriots. But there’s another battle that will be fought at the same time. Across the nation, millions of Americans will host or attend parties to watch and enjoy the game, and in doing so will create mountains of waste, tons of CO2 emissions, and will use plenty of water and energy. So what can you do to make sure that even if your favorite team loses, the environment will still win?

Back to School: Buy Green!

Well, it’s that time of year again, which means that it’s time for us college students to return to school for the Spring semester. What it also means is that it’s time to go out and get all of the supplies we need for our new classes. But this semester, why not change it up? Why not make it the time of year where you decide to buy green, sustainable supplies instead. Maybe some of these will strike your fancy:

Energy Efficiency: Green is What You Save, Not What You Spend

Image via Wikipedia

Today, as a part of my internship with You Save Green, I assisted in an energy audit. I’ll talk more about that later, but what I want to discuss here is the multitude of economic opportunities provided to those looking to make their homes more sustainable.

Christmas is over, so what now?

WAIT! Before you throw out those boxes or return that hideous sweater your Aunt Tilda bought you, READ THIS! Here’s a quick list of tips about what to do to make sustainable uses of all types of leftovers from Christmas! (or for my people, the still-continuing Hanukkah!

1. Food. Have leftover food? Instead of throwing it out, here are a whole bunch of things you can do with it:

Last Minute Green Decorating Tips

If your family is anything like mine, you’ve likely just started decorating for the holidays. Whether or not you’ve decorated already, these tips should come in handy this year, or in years to come.

1. Use green lights.

Before you go home – 5 tips!

The semester is over, finals are wrapping up, and you just finished that paper at 5 am. It’s time to go home for Winter Break!

But wait! Before you go home, take a few extra minutes and follow these steps to make sure your room is sustainable while you’re not there:

1. Unplug everything. Unplug your lamps, space heaters, fans microwaves, refrigerators (take everything out first, of course), and all of your alarm clocks, radios, TV’s, computers, charging devices, etc. Even though you might not be using them, they’ll still be using up energy while you’re not there. Not running