Going Green in College: Greening Your Tools

It’s the first day of class and you have your notebook, post-its and new package of computer printing paper. Do you think about alternative methods for submitting assignments, taking notes and writing reminders for yourself? Many people do not, however, it is very important. According to the Design Vitality blog, “over 83,300,000 tons of paper is wasted every year.” That includes notebooks, printing mistakes, and all other sorts of paper–paper we don’t even realize we use. I, for one, was astonished by that number and decided to see what I could do to reduce my paper consumption. The site had several interesting tips, including: using mis-prints as draft paper, or to-do lists, using the print preview feature to ensure that whatever you do print will be correctly printed the first time, and use double-sided printing.

In college, students take a lot of notes, and those notes are often taken on notebook computers and in paper notebooks. Both of these systems have recently become more eco-friendly and ultimate help to green your college workspace.

Green Office Supplies
Pristine Planet makes a variety of recycled notebooks most of which cost under $7. This is a great option if you do not like to type your notes.

Staples also offers a variety of green notebooks, folders and printer paper.

Post-it even makes recycled version now, and many are not more expensive than their non-recycled counterparts.

Green Laptops
Apple’s new fleet of laptops and desktops are more green than ever–in an environmental sense anyway. According to their Web site, they have reduced their emissions on production, and also reduced the energy consumption of their products. They will also recycle old iPods, computers, iPhones, etc in order to continue to promote their sustainability programs.

There are several Windows PC options as well for going green with your technology. This site claims that the Thinkpad X300 by Lenovo is the greenest PC laptop on the market. It also details a variety of other green PC laptops.

Programs to organize your notes
There are tons of online programs to help organize your notes, including iProcrasitnate, Things, and Word’s notebook view. These help you organize your files for class on the computer in a clear and concise way. It’s perfect for reviewing your notes online as well– in an effort to save printer paper.

Many professors often use blackboard or some sort of online file exchange to hand in assignments and other projects. If they do have this set up at your college, you can always ask to email your assignments to avoid printing them, thereby greening your workspace and your professor’s!

No one person can save the planet, but if we all work together, we can make this Earth a “greener” place.

Have you made an effort to reduce your paper consumption? Tell us about it in the comments below.