In Your Residence Hall

• Turn off lights, lamps, computers, printers, TVs, radios, and any other equipment when not in use. Unplug electronics such as TVs, computers, and cell phone chargers.
• If you don’t need lights, don’t turn them on.
• Work by a lamp instead of lighting an entire room.
• Use compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) in your lamps. They use about 25% of the energy that incandescent bulbs use.
• Use your A/C sensibly. If it's cooler outside than it is in your room, then you don't need to run it. When you do use the A/C, set it on low and turn it off when you leave your room.
• Close your windows in the winter! During the winter, don’t open your window to cool your room. If the heater is on, turn it down instead.
• Try to take shorter showers. This saves water and the energy required to heat bath water.
• Wash clothes only when they need to be washed and then only run full loads. Use cold or warm water instead of hot, which will save on energy. Hang dry your clothes as much as possible. To get that stiff feeling out, throw your clothes in the dryer for five minutes.
• Report all maintenance problems in a timely manner. Keep bathroom fixtures from dripping and report those that do.

When You Are Commuting

• Take public transit whenever possible; trains and buses require less energy per person than single-occupancy automobiles.
• Ride a bike if you can do so safely. The bicycle is the most energy-efficient form of personal transportation.
• Drive less: consolidate your trips and lower your speed. Plan trips and errands to make each trip most productive.
• Accelerate gently because it takes a great deal of energy to rapidly accelerate a car.
• Most vehicles get the best gas mileage around 55 mph, so try to drive the speed limit! Every mph above 55 requires increasingly more fuel.
• Inflate your tires to the maximum PSI listed on the sidewall of the tire instead of what is listed by your auto manufacturer. The ride might be a bit stiffer than before, but you will have much less rolling resistance.
• Change your oil, replace the air filter, and do all other recommended maintenance to keep your car running efficiently and to help it last longer. Washing and waxing even helps cut down wind resistance, but do not wash your car during drought conditions.

When You Are Shopping

• Buy less. Purchase environmentally-friendly products, but more importantly, buy only what you absolutely need.
• Shop online when possible. Shopping online eliminates your need to drive to a store and reduces the overall environmental footprint of commerce.
• Buy local goods whenever you can. This promotes a healthy local economy and reduces fuel consumption.
• Avoid excessive packaging.
• Reuse packaging!
• Bring a bag to the store. Use reusable bags or a backpack at the grocery store to avoid using plastic bags.
• Recycle plastic bags. Return any plastic bags you have to the grocery store to be recycled.