Green Living

In Residence

While many tips for living green off campus are relevant to living in residences, there are some things that are especially relevant.

• If you find the residence temperature too warm or too cool, try changing your clothing to be comfortable and refrain from opening the window to cool your room or using a space heater to heat your room during winter months
• Consider sharing a fridge with your roommate. Sharing is caring!
• Be sure to use the recycling facilities in your residence. Each building has designated recycling centres. They are open 7 days a week between 8:00am and 11:00pm. For more information check out: http://www.queensu.ca/pps/waste/resrecy.pdf

Off Campus

Start living a greener life. These simple tips will help you do your part to create a more sustainable world. Small steps will help make your house more eco friendly while keeping more money in your pocket!

Studying tips

• Take advantage of the sun and the free light source. A study by Carnegie Mellon University shows that natural lighting results in an average increase of 7.1% in productivity.
• Reduce lighting use and try focusing light where you need it (‘task lighting). Also try to use compact fluorescent light bulbs, which last longer and use 75% less energy than regular bulbs.
• Keep your printer off until you go to use it and when you do try to print on recycled paper/on both sides of a leaf.
• Computers and TV’s use power when plugged in, even when they are not turned on. If you are going home/away for a weekend or holidays, try unplugging appliances and power bars.
• Try to keep at least your computer screen shut off when not in use as 60% of the power used by a computer is used by the monitor (40% is used to keep the hard drive spinning and to power the other electronic components). Screen savers do not conserve power.

Kitchen Tips

• Only run the dishwasher once it is completely full.
• Cut down on your use of toxins in the kitchen.
  • Non-toxic organic dish soap is an excellent alternative to bleach based cleaners.
  • Try cleaning the counters with distilled white vinegar or baking soda. It works and it’s cheap!
• Start using an electric kettle to boil water. Not only is this a much quicker way to boil water, but also uses half the energy a stove does.
• Stop using plastic bags when buying fruits and veggies. Bring your own, reusable bags to the grocery store.
• Use reusable containers instead of plastic wrap. Everyone hearts tupperwear!
• Try to buy more locally grown products. This cuts down on carbon emissions from transportation.
• Use a permanent mesh coffee filter instead of a disposable paper filters. The coffee will still taste great. If that doesn’t work for you, you can always try using unbleached coffee filters.
• Take the initiative and start composting. Backyard composters are available at the Kingston Area Recycling Centre (613-546-0000) for $30 and reduce your household waste significantly.
• For refrigerators:
  • set the temperature only as cold as you need;
  • don’t overfill so as to allow air circulation;
  • make sure the door seals properly; clean your refrigerator’s back coils every 3 months;
  • allow at least 5cm space around the entire unit to allow heat to escape from the compressor and condensing coil
• Avoid using one time use products such as wipes. Try to reduce your use of paper towels and napkins.

Bathroom Tips

· Use less water! Take shorter showers and turn off the water while brushing your teeth.

· Install an energy saving shower head. You will see a significant decrease on your next utilities bill.

· Stop buying paper towels. Using a cloth towel. This helps the environment and costs less.

· Using one time cleaning products creates a huge amount of waste. Buying in bulk is not only cheaper but much more environmentally friendly.

· Make sure the cleaning products you do buy are non- toxic and biodegradable.

· Clean mold and mildew with vinegar. It works wonders.

· Stop using drain cleaners. These are extremely toxic and damage the environment. Instead, pour a combination of boiling water, salt and baking soda down your drains weekly to keep them running smoothly.

· Substitute a plastic shower curtain with a cloth one.

· Reduce your water use. Try not to let the water run when brushing your teeth or doing and dishes. Also be sure to report leaks right away. An average bath uses 75 litres of hot water: a 5-minute shower with an efficient showerhead uses half this amount.

Bedroom Tips

· Turn off all lights when they are not being used!

· Make sure all windows and doors are closed properly when using a heating system. Better yet, throw on an extra sweater and turn the heat down- you will see a significant decrease in your utilities bill.

· Make an effort to unplug your computer. Even if you have completely shut it down it is still using energy if it is plugged in.

· Recycle! Make sure there is a recycling bin next to your garbage can so that you have the opportunity to differentiate and not contaminate your recycled material.

· For the washer and dryer:

a) run full loads when possible but don’t overload;

b) wash clothes in cold or warm water (85-90% of washer machine energy is used heating water which shrinks and fades your clothes, wearing them out more quickly);

c) clean the dryer lint filter after every load (clogged filters can increase energy demand by 30%), or hang dry your clothes

· Avoid washing your clothing after one wear, it will save energy and your clothes

· Try to use concentrated organic/environmentally friendly detergents and cleaning products: these kind of products are usually available from most retailers and can be bought at cost from the Earth Centre.