How to Make Your College Dorm Room Eco-Friendly

Make the Change and Go Green With Your Student Living Quarters

Dec 25, 2008

You're on your own now at college and you need to make better decisions in your life. Start with changing your lifestyle and becoming more eco-friendly.

Going back to school might not be fun, but re-decorating your dorm room can be. You’re on your own now and it’s time you start making better decisions for yourself. Thinking about the first big decision you're going to make? How about transforming your room into an eco-friendly place?

The big thing right now in home decoration is going green. You’re in college now. This is the time where you’re supposed to learn things and prepare for the future and what a great way to do that than making an environmentally friendly dorm room.

Don’t Buy New Furniture

Save your money. If you have basic furniture at home, take that with you. Some fresh paint can make your old furniture look brand new and fabulous! If you don’t have furniture, give Craigslist a try. You can find just about anything you can think of on that site. You’ll be surprised at what you can find at garage sales as well.

You’ll be doing many papers while in college. Instead of throwing your notebook paper in the trash, get yourself a recycle bin. Many colleges should have recycle centers on campus so take advantage of them.

Before “borrowing” a microwave or mini fridge from someone, see what the common area has. Many of them have refrigerators and microwaves in there. Now you’re saving even more money.

Don’t Waste Energy

For your lights, television and computer (printer if you have one of those as well) can all be plugged into a power strip so that when these items are not in use you can just turn off the power plug. Pretty simple huh?

If your dorm allows an AC unit, many people like myself have severe allergies need them, so make sure you get an Energy-Star rated low-energy unit. If you don’t have to have one, either study outside or get your self a fan and open up a window.

The same goes for a refrigerator. If you get one of those mini ones for your dorm room, pick up an Energy Star or other low-energy certified model. This may save you as much as 50% of the energy use.

These are just some useful tips to get your started in going green in college. For more information, check out Tree Hugger. If you’re stuck on how to decorate your dorm room with green material, check out some more great ideas right here on Suite 101 on how you can easily and quickly transform your dorm room.

The copyright of the article How to Make Your College Dorm Room Eco-Friendly in Green/Simple Living is owned by Angie Rentmeester. Permission to republish How to Make Your College Dorm Room Eco-Friendly in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.