Congrats Grad!

For those of you planning to go to college in the fall, make your dorm room eco-friendly. There are a lot of products out there that are good on the environment.

If you are looking for a new backpack, the Voltaic Solar Panel backpack is one to check out. It has solar panels on the outside sewn into the bag that produces around 15 watts of power. With the amount of wattage it makes, it can fully charge your laptop. It comes with all of the cords that you will need to hook it up to various small appliances. This way just by walking to class, you are charging your electronics!

They can be pricey, but if you are looking for a “green” computer the Mac Book Pro is the way to go. The LED lights do not use the same dangerous materials such as mercury and arsenic and is very energy efficient. Mac has a recycling program, where all of their electronics can be recycled—they will also take other brands as well. The battery is non- removable which reduces the amount of waste in landfills once it is time to get a new computer.

Another great eco-friendly product is Kindle. This is a digital library. It is six inches tall and can go virtually anywhere. You can download books right into the machine. You can also download magazines and newspapers. Kindle offers up to 275,000 books to choose from!
Congrats Grads! Start the next stage of your life a green one.

As Always,
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Bowling Green Goes Green

“Going Green” is touching close to home with many Bowling Green residents and students understanding the importance and taking the action to recycle.

Nowadays, with the threat of the global warming and the green house effect, the idea of going green has hit the media. The people of the Bowling Green area including Bowling Green State University have been contributing.
Everyday people pay a visit to the Bowling Green Recycling Center open 24 hours a day, located on North College Drive.

“I have been recycling here for years,” said Katie Bruning. “I try to make a trip up here once every two weeks and drop off my bottles and cans. I try and recycle because I know it’s the right thing to do.”

At the Bowling Green Recycling Center, you can bring out and sort your aluminum cans, books, cardboard, glass, magazines, newspapers and steel cans. The staff encourages you to clean out all bottles and cans to help make the compacting process quicker. The recycling center also does not accept any plastic bottles without the recycling logo, light bulbs, mirrors, trash or yard waste.

So what is Bowling Green State University’s Campus and students doing about this issue?

There are many designated areas on and off campus for recycling. There are a total of 900 bins and 250 stations located around campus. By visiting the BGSU website you can find a list of all recycling stations. There are also recycling stations in every class building and brown crates in every classroom for convenience.

“I always try and use the recycling places on campus,” said Ainsley Burgos, a Student of BGSU. “But, I know a lot of students who do not really. I think that the University could do a better job of promoting recycling and explaining how important it is.”

Casey Ross, a student of an environmental studies class, in contrast believes that the faculty does try to promote to its students the importance of recycling.

“I personally do not really recycle,” said Casey Ross, a BGSU student. “But, my [environmental studies] professor talks about it a lot though, so I would say that they do try and promote it.”

The goal of BGSU overall is to educate their campus on the issues of recycling and preserve and conserve natural resources. According to the BGSU website, since 1994 their recycling program sold more than $390,000 in recyclable material and saved over $400,000 in landfill fees.

The idea of recycling has affected many. On April, 22 the 40th anniversary of Earth Day was celebrated on BGSU’s campus. Students had the chance to learn more about ways to become involved with helping the environment by talking to different organizations. BGSU also gives you the chance to adopt your own recycling station to become involved. An organized group of people can support the campus efforts by volunteering to manage a station. In return, you are dedicated your own bulletin board at your station.

Bowling Green and its university are working hard on their efforts to become eco-friendly. Students both on and off campus have a variety of options where they can dispose of their recyclables. BGSU is still working towards getting their students educated and involved in their recycling program and has hopes for the future.

Bowling Green Windmills

The City of Bowling Green has been making efforts towards conserving. Bowling Green is the home of Ohio’s first utility-sized wind farm. In November of 2003, the first two went up and cost $4.8 million dollars. One year later, in 2004 the other two were put up for only $4 million dollars. They have since become a tourist attraction for the area. West on Route 6, you will find the four energy wind mills, each of them 257 feet tall. To give you a better picture of the height is to vision a 30 story building. Each of the blades weighs 22,000 pounds, just to give you another idea of how big they really are. They generate enough electricity for up to 3,000 people, or 785 homes a year. How do windmills produce energy? The blades of the windmills that are turned by the power of the wind are connected to an electric generator. As the blades turn, they are creating more and more energy. Then the electricity comes together through the wires. The Bowling Green wind mills produce 7,245 megawatts of power every hour. However, Ohio ranks number 37 in wind energy potential according to American Wind Energy Association in Washington. To learn more about the energy windmills of Bowling Green, you can visit greenenergyohio.org As Always, Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Happy Earth Day!!

Happy Earth Day all!


Forty years and counting. Earth Day started in 1970 and has been celebrated every year since. Today is the one day of the year where everyone should be involved in the green revolution! It is a day to take the time to help out your planet. Take the initiative to get involved and conserve.

In recognition of BGSU’s 40th Earth Day anniversary, today on campus they are making it easier for you to get involved. You can visit the eco-fair going on in University circle. There are over 50 different exhibits from different organizations, business and local government offices. It is the largest Eco-Fair Bowling Green has ever had to offer. A few exhibits that you can find there are Geojourney, Wood County Waste and plant retailers. There are plenty of opportunities to get trees to plant in honor of this day! You can also buy potted plants for your dorm rooms or house. Get all of your friends and family involved.

BGSU is also celebrating in others ways in honor of the holiday. The Kreischer SunDial has actually made their menu meatless to celebrate global warming.

Then at 7:30 p.m. you can find an Earth Day Panhel presentation. At the presentation you can learn about how the City of Bowling Green is working on the green revolution and construction. They encourage you to bring your questions and to get involved!

Take action this Earth Day.
As Always,
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

10 Most Eco-Friendly Colleges in the U.S.

Here is an interactive map of the most "green" American colleges. Check it out and see if you agree with the list that Sierra Magazine has rated as top 10. And notice one of them is actually from Ohio!



View Top 10 Eco-Friendly Colleges in a larger map

More easy ways to go green at school

I really liked how I gave examples of how to go green on a college campus. So, I am going to give you guys some more ideas that are easy to do.

Reduce

Go paperless. Now that you are on your own at school, you may be managing your own mail. A great way to go green this way is to have your mail e-mailed to you instead of through the postal service. You can get bank and credit card statements this way. even BGSU has gone green by making all of their bursar bills only available online to save paper!

Take the minimum. When you go to the cafeteria and grab some food, do not take more than needed. Just take the amount of napkins and silverware that you neccessary. If you take more than that, you are wasting what others could be using.

Use your computer in class. Take notes on your computer if you have a laptop. This is the complete paperless route.

Reuse

Save supplies. Whatever school supplies, like paper, pens and pencils, that you do not use this semester, use next semester! Save yourself the time and money.

Use binders. You can reuse binders every semester by just buying new refillable loose leaf paper. This is way cheaper on you since loose leaf paper only costs 50 cents at some stores. Plus, this is a great way to save trees!

Hope you guys enjoy these ones as well!
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Easy ways to go green today

Going green at college can be easier than you expect. There are multiple ways for students to reduce, reuse and recycle. Here are some great examples you should try.

Reduce

Print your papers double sided. Not all professors will accept you to do this on assignments, but print off assignment sheets and notes this way. I personally always print on both sides unless I am turning the paper into a professor. It helps you out by making your folder or notebook more organized!

Do not print anything you do not need. Save paper just by printing frugally. At BGSU they are only giving you limited prints starting fall 2010. This is a great way for the students to really question if what they are printing is useful. After so many prints, students will start to be charged for every paper printed.

Reuse

Buy used textbooks. Well, this one should be obvious. Most students want used textbooks not because they are recycled, but because they are cheaper! So use sources like Amazon and eBay to find used textbooks at a reduced price. If you still have a hard time buying the book, share with a friend!

Recycle

Borrow clothes. Share clothes with your friends. Once again most college students do this because we are lacking funds as it is. You may not have even realized that just by borrowing clothes instead of buying the same shirt you are recycling!

Hope you guys find these useful!
Reduce.Reuse.Recycle.