Green Your Life!

Now that you’ve greened your dorm room it’s time to examine a few simple ways that you can green your life at Chapman University!

1. The clothesline is much more than a wrestling move! Running a typical clothes dryer for one hour uses about 4kWh. For Chapman residents that means that roughly 4lbs of carbon is generated every time a dryer is run for an hour. And if you do a load of laundry every week those numbers add up pretty quickly! Instead of using a dryer invest in a drying rack or clothesline. Plus, drying your clothes in the sunny So-Cal air makes them smell so good!
2. The wheels on the bus go round and round! While I can’t image that anyone would want to leave this beautiful campus for any reason 😉 if you do decide to check out LA, San Diego, or other areas of the OC investigate the Metrolink and bus schedules. Taking the train means missing out on sitting in gridlocked traffic and not having to be the driver means you can catch up on reading or homework. For scooting around on campus and in the Orange Circle invest in a bike. You’ll find it’s much quicker than a car and parking isn’t nearly as challenging!
3. CSA! CSA! CSA! For those of you lucky enough to be living in rooms that have a kitchen and enjoy delicious food I would highly suggest investigating the Community Support Agriculture (CSA) boxes that are delivered bi-monthly to campus. You get delicious fresh fruits and veggies delivered right to campus for an extremely reasonable price ($23 for the small box and $33 for the large box) and you are supporting local agriculture and eating what is in season and growing in Southern California at any given time.
4. What a turn off! It has been really hot lately, but turning your air conditioner off and opening your windows and doors is a great way to save some kilowatts. Plus, it will help air out your room and ensure your brain is getting enough oxygen for all the book learnin’ you are getting ready to do!
5. Veg Out! Give Meatless Monday a whirl and eat like an herbivore for the day. Did you know that the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly 1/5th of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide . . . far more than transportation. Shocking right? Eating like an herbivore can help slow this trend and reduce your risk for obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease!