How to Green Your College Dorm

hen you leave for college you are leaving your parents, your friends from childhood, and a familiar home.

These are only a few parts of your life that you are leaving behind, but these alone are enough to make adjusting to freshman year hard. One way to make the transition into your new space as easy as possible is to keep your green lifestyle because it one aspect of your life that is familiar and comforting.

Going to college is an exciting time and you may be tempted to immediately go out and buy new dorm accessories, but hang on a second. In 2006, college freshman spent an average of $1,285 on back-to-school items, including dorm room décor. You can cut this cost and be eco-friendly by buying secondhand items. Buying used items shows support against production of new items and will keep these items out of the landfill.

Thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army carry everything from clothing to furniture and linens. If you are planning to bring a fridge, microwave, or led light to school checkout Craigslist to see if any are listed. Getting appliances on Craigslist is a great way to save money, as well as be eco-friendly. Although buying eco-friendly products are comparably better for the environment than other products, the best thing for the environment is to not consume newly produced items at all.

Many people attend a college far away from home and ship everything from their home to the university; however, shipping goods long distances consumes a lot of resources and energy. For example, the fuel that planes use is not always eco-friendly, although companies like FedEx are working on using a percentage of alternative energy.

One way to overcome this issue is to get to school with some items and then buy everything else at a store near campus.