Don’t use the disposable food containers/utensils, like paper cups, paper plates, the plastic silverware, or the Styrofoam bowls that are in the dining room. You will waste a lot less if you use the washable glasses, plates, silverware and bowls. If you think that the glasses and mugs downstairs are too small, use your own cups or mugs. And if the kitchen is closed, you can use your own dishes and stuff and wash them yourself.

Recycle paper, cardboard, bottles, and cans. Paper goes in the paper bin, and so does cardboard, but that needs to be folded so it doesn’t take up so much space. Cans and bottles (after you wash them) go in the cans and bottles bin. Any plastic with the numbers 1 or 2 in a little recycling symbol on its bottom is recyclable. The caps of bottles are made from a different kind of plastic than the bottoms are, so throw away the caps.

Recycle batteries. Really. You can recycle batteries in the Grecourt Bookshop and in the Physical Plant. I’m going to put a cardboard box marked “Batteries” down with the recycling bins and I’ll bring the batteries down to Physical Plant (lithium batteries) and Grecourt (regular batteries) myself.

Recycle ink cartridges. You can bring old ink cartridges to Whalens downtown. If you brink in an old cartridge when you go to buy a new one, they’ll give you a dollar off the new one.

Shower less often, use less water. OK, now this may be blasphemy to some people, but you don’t need to shower every day. You’re not that dirty. If you normally shower every day and you start showering every other day instead, then you will use half the energy and half the water. Or, if you are playing a sport or something or really need to shower every day, you can just take shorter showers.

Consume less. Don’t buy so much stuff, and when you do buy things, think about the energy that went into making what you are buying. Buying things like clothes, books, and CDs second-hand is not only better for the environment, its also cheaper. And we do have a free bin (downstairs by the recycling bins.) You can put in clothes/books or whatever that you don’t want anymore, and you can take whatever you want out of it.

Eat lower on the food chain. This is another way to consume less. Animals that are raised for food, especially cattle, chickens, and pigs, eat grain and vegetables for years and produce a lot of waste before they are killed. So by eating more vegetables and less animal products, you would be saving energy. You’d be conserving clean water, fossil fuels (used in very large amount in large-scale factory farming,) and topsoil (ruined by the feedlot beef industry,) and even rainforest land (ruined by large fast food chains abusing their economical power in third world countries and bad economical and political situations. grr.)

Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins. They’re washable, so if you use them, you can just wash them with your laundry and use them again.

Bring your own mug when you go to Davis or downtown for coffee or tea or chai or whatever. That way you don’t end up throwing away a cup every time you go.

Bring your own bags when you go shopping. You can reuse old plastic bags from stores, or if that cramps your style, you can buy or make a sturdy bag that you can use over and over again.