Nine great ways to make your dorm room eco friendly

For college students, their dorm room acts as their home while they study and work on their school projects. That is why from time to time, they redesign their dorm room to make it as attractive and comfortable as possible. But along with these renovations are tons of garbage from old wallpapers, furniture and appliance. To add, students buy new items that are not energy efficient and environmental friendly.

As fun as it is to redesign your dorm rooms, it is not beneficial to Mother Earth. For sure, no one wants to make your dorm room beautiful to the expense of the environment, right? Luckily, there are ways to make your room as green as possible without worrying about money, aesthetics, and comfort. Here are few things that you should do:

1. Re-use Items

Decorating a dorm is a fun way to start your school term, but just imagine how much garbage you'll get when you decide to pick new furniture for your room. It would be eco-friendly if you just re-use the items you used last term. You can color them with VOC-free paints to give them a fresh look. You may even upscale trash items like bottles and wood blocks as accents for your room. Let your creativity flow and see how much you can spice up your room without wasting your money, and reducing your carbon footprints.

2. Buy Local Items

If you really need to buy something, pick something that you could get locally. This is a clear sign of your support towards greener product manufacturing. You see, imported items takes gas and more energy to be transported to where you are. If you buy local items, you'll be one less consumer who encourages less eco-friendly ways of selling products. Most of the times imported goods have lower quality that goods sold locally.

3. Check For Something Free

What is better than buying cheap appliance, or re-using old furniture? That is getting one for free. They are not exactly new, but most of these items are still usable. You only have to check Craigslist or Freeacycle around your area, to find people who are planning to dispose their belongings. If you are lucky, you can score lamps, desks, and beds to complete your dorm room. You may also want to stay a little longer during dormitory move out days to find used items left by students. Also, coordinate with your university to get things during furniture recycling day, and upscale them to make them look new.

4. Minimize Use of Appliance

Appliances are important items that make dorm living easy, but students should use them wisely. Air conditioning units, for example, can be closed if your room has huge windows for ventilation. Refrigerator is another appliance that consumes a lot of energy. If you cannot avoid going fridge less, encourage your friends or dorm mates to store their food in one refrigerator to save energy. When it comes to appliances, it is encouraged to buy modern designs that have energy star certification. It can be a bit expensive, but you'll save a lot of electricity with this appliance.

5. Switch to LED light bulbs

To save more electricity, you have to switch from incandescent light bulbs to LED bulbs. LED is energy efficient and lasts longer than other bulbs. It also emits brighter light so it makes your night time perfect for working on your school essays and projects. But if possible, work on your projects during the day so that you can sleep and close all the lights early at night.

6. Cook With Friends

Do you prefer cooking your meals at dorm instead of buying? Then invite your friends over and cook your meals together. You'll be saving lots of energy if you decide to cook in one microwave or rice cooker at the same time. You won't be wasting a lot energy plus you'll have fun dining with your friends.

7. Use Plants as Accents

A great way to make your dormitory eco-friendly is by adding indoor plants. You can get potted plants and make them as accents around your room. It purifies the air around your place, and also improves your mood whenever you feel down. Living plants actually help calm you down, especially when you are stressed over an essay writing deadline or an up-coming exam. Use recycled mugs and cans as pots to make a quirky indoor garden.

8. Mind the Bed Sheets

Hate to tell it to you, but your bed sheets and curtains are probably laced with toxic chemicals that are harmful to your skin. That is because most fibers today are not produced organically. If you don't want to support companies that use chemicals on their fiber plants, you should look for organic cottons or flax made sheets. These fabrics are comfortable and not harmful to the environment.

9. Segregate Wastes

This is very important. Always segregate your wastes to ensure proper disposal. Most of your garbage is recyclable and if you segregate them properly, you can decrease land pollution, and air pollution during waste incineration. You can even sell recyclable materials for added income.

Protecting the world for further environmental damage is not easy, but you can do your part by starting at the comfort of your own place. Students can help a lot if you work on these tips that would make your dorm room eco-friendly and comfortable.