sharad.gopal

Well so this comes out a bit later than when it was meant to, resting in my drafts for sometime. Georgia Tech had its Think Green Week last week (Apr 11 – 17 2009) mainly because April 22nd was too close to the Finals week and it would have been a difficult for students to put up the think green week during the week just before finals. Anyways so Earth Week was pretty successful in terms of raising awareness and making a lot of Georgia Tech students who are far too busy being pre-occupied with school work, come out and even listen to the New President of the Institute talk about what he does in his day-to-day life to stay green. I thought I’d share some of the things that I do on a daily basis which are pretty simple to follow so,

Here’s a list of some simple things that I do on a daily basis and YOU can do too to do your  bit to conserve energy  and reduce your carbon-footprint:

1. Set sleep mode on my computer and monitor: Setting your computer to sleep mode takes only a few seconds, but can reduce electricity use by 87% compared to leaving it on (desktop computer). Modern computers are not damaged by frequent start up and shut down, and the surge of energy to start up the computer is very small relative to the energy used by leaving the computer on.
2. Turn off my lights and unplug my Laptop & Cellphone chargers when I don’t need them: To dispel one common myth, it does NOT require more energy to turn the light back on—always best to turn it off if you leave!
3. Do my laundry in cold water: About 90% of the energy used by clothes washing machines is for heating the water. And according to the US Dept of Energy, washing clothes on cold or warm is usually sufficient, and simply using warm instead of hot can cut energy use for that load in half!
4. Walk, bike use campus transportation to commute within Georgia Tech campus
5. Use stairs whenever I can: Regular exercise, including simple measures like walking up stairs, can reduce the risks of many serious diseases. The average person burns 10 calories per minute taking the stairs, a difference in weight of 8 lbs over 10 years! Taking the stairs is great for your health, and reduces building energy use!
6. Drink tap water, not bottled: According to a NY Times article, Americans will throw out over 30 billion single serving bottles of water this year! If you are concerned about your tap water, use a filter on the faucet—a much more eco-friendly way of ensuring pure water. I have a Nalgene bottle that I carry with me at all times.
7. Don’t leave tap running while brushing/shaving,etc: Turn off the water faucet when brushing your teeth, washing your face, or shaving. The average faucet uses between 2 and 3 gallons per minute! Leaving the water running for just 2 minutes every day would waste up to 2190 gallons of water each year.
8. Take shorter showers: A standard shower head uses about 5-7 gallons of water per minute (gpm)—so even a 5-minute shower can consume 35 gallons! Better yet, install a low-flow showerhead, which use 1.5-2.5 gpm—it’s an easy way to cut your water use by 50-80%!
9. Eat less meat, eat organic: When it comes to energy, how you choose to fill your plate is just as important as how you fill your gas tank. The difference in energy needed to produce a vegetarian diet versus the average American diet is equivalent to the difference between driving a sedan versus an SUV! Even simply reducing your meat consumption will have a positive environmental impact of high magnitude. There are many other benefits to eating less meat as well.Make a change for a healthier you, healthier farmers, and a healthier planet! Growing food and raising livestock organically limits the chemicals being put into our bodies and our planet. Organic methods protect water quality, maintain soil fertility, and enhance biodiversity.
10. Reduce food waste in the dining halls: Take what you want, but eat what you take! Food scraps rank third in their contribution to solid waste in the U.S., accounting for 17.5% of our garbage. It only takes a minute to think before you order or fill your plate in the dining hall. By doing so you can take control of a large proportion of the waste you produce.
11. Use reusable utensils: Georgia Tech has over 20,000 students, fellows, faculty, and staff. If each person were to buy one coffee a day, every day, Georgia Tech would send over 8 million coffee cups to the landfill every year. Now imagine if those people had two coffees a day!
12. Buy reduced note-books/pads: Close the recycling loop. I know you recycle your paper already, but what happens to that recycled paper? It gets made into high quality paper, so support the market for recycled paper and buy recycled paper! Of course you already knew that buying recycled paper saves trees, energy, water, resources like bleach, and landfill space, and it costs the same as non-recycled paper.
13. Reduce printing and double-side all prints: 1 ream (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly!) At least 38.9% of the U.S. waste stream is paper. One person uses two pine trees worth of paper products every year.
14. Finally Reduce.Reuse.Recycle: The EPA estimates that 75 percent of what Americans throw in the trash could actually be recycled. The aluminum can is 100 percent recyclable and can be used to make new beverage cans indefinitely.
15. Advocate: Think Green, Talk Green and encourage your family and friends to go green and take small little steps that can help the Earth in a big way.