Action-Oriented Tips for Ohio University’s Earth Week 2009 |
<Recycling & Resources> |
Paper
Reduce your paper usage. We can use everyday cloth napkins to avoid wiping our mouths with our forests and trade in our paper towels for sponges or tea towels. In the office, consider using recycled paper or no paper at all when possible. Check out OU’s green purchasing guidelines for your office supplies. To reduce annoying junk mail, you can decide which catalogs you no longer want to receive at Catalog Choice, OPT-OUT of unwanted credit card offers, and reduce other kinds of junk mail through the Direct Marketing Association.
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Organic Waste
Start composting. Composting can provide you with multiple benefits for your (or a friend's) garden or lawn and prevent the release of methane - a greenhouse gas 21 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Even people without yards can try vermicomposting or various other types of container composting.
When you are in Baker Center’s West 82 food court, remember that you can separate out your compostable items thanks to Ohio University’s composting initiative.
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<Energy Efficiency> |
Energy-Efficient Computing
Setting your computer’s power settings to be energy efficient can save a significant amount of energy. Don’t turn on your printer or speakers until you need them. Turn the computer and all peripherals off at the end of the day or when you will be away for more than an hour. The Office of Sustainability’s Green Computing Guide has more information and tips about computer efficiency that can help you reduce carbon emissions and save money.
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Energy Vampires
Slay vampire power. It is estimated that electrical items can use up to 10% as much energy when they are turned off as when they are running. There are a variety of smart power strips available that can prevent such wasted energy. The free option is to simply unplug things when you are not using them. Window air conditioners, cell phone chargers, lamps that are rarely used, etc. are good candidates to be unplugged until you need them. |
Pedal Power
Replace at least one regular auto trip a week with another form of less-carbon-intensive transportation such as walking, biking, car-pooling or taking public transportation.
The HockHocking-Adena Bikeway (aka "Athens bike path") allows easy, traffic-free access to many stores on East State Street, some of which now have bike racks. Adding a basket or another kind of carrier makes it easy to take your purchases with you and our local bike shops often have some in stock.
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Laundry
Washing clothes in cold water can save 90% of the energy involved in washing them. Wash your hands in cold, rather than hot, water whenever possible. When we turn on the hot water tap just to wash our hands for a few seconds, the water does not have time to become warm, but the water heater has to fire up anyway. Consider hanging your clothes to dry, which can further reduce your carbon emission and electricity costs – and by preventing the lint phenomenon as well. It just might help your clothes last longer. |
<Water Efficiency> |
Landscaping
Watering your garden or outdoor plants in the mornings can conserve water and be healthier for your plants.
Native and drought-tolerant plants need less water to begin with, so choosing your plants carefully can lower your water usage.
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Rain Barrels
Rain barrels can help you collect water from your roof for your garden, plants or even to wash your car, which can lower your water bills. They provide numerous green benefits, including reducing the amount of storm runoff and thereby the amount of pollution that gets carried into our waterways. You can build your own or consider purchasing one. Locally, White’s Mill offers a 70-gallon version. Little Square Farm, a Columbus-area business, produces their own version.
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Showering
Low-flow shower heads have improved a lot in the past few years and many units mix in oxygen to maintain good water pressure. Such shower heads can significantly reduce your water and sewer bills, as well as the load on your hot water heater. Such water savings by individual homes can add up to help prevent the need for community water treatment plants to pay for expensive expansions – and someday that just might help us save money as taxpayers in Athens.
For the hard core greenies out there, consider taking “ Navy showers” which can save significant amounts of water for free. You could also consider using a bucket to catch your shower water as you wait for it to warm up. Then you can use that water to flush your toilet or, if no shampoo or soap has gotten into it, to water your plants. That bucket could serve as your own partial low- or no-cost greywater system.
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<Sustainable Food > |
Local Food
Buying locally grown and produced foods can be a tasty way to cut your carbon emissions. Luckily for us, Athens has one of the top ten farmers markets in the United States. The Athens Farmers Market, is open on from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturdays year round, and on Wednesdays from April 15th until December. It is located at 1000 East State Street, in the Market on State (formerly known as the University Mall) parking lot, which has plenty of parking and can be accessed from the bike path if you cut through the Lowe’s parking lot.
Patronize independently-owned restaurants in our area that serve locally grown food. There are several such restaurants in the Athens area. Some local restaurant owners can be seen at the Athens Farmers Market, basket in hand, while others grow some of the food offered in their restaurants themselves.
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