A Sustainable Life
What Can I Do to Help?
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Join the LU Green Squad
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Help with the garden or sign up for a plot
- Turn off lights in empty rooms on campus (and at home)
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Make plans for Earth Week in the Spring
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Challenge your student organization to reduce the amount of trash generated
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Purchase products made from recycled materials when possible—paper, cups, plates
- Use reusable bottles and bags
Have an idea? Email sustainability@lamar.edu.
Ways to Reduce Your Water Footprint
- How long does it take you to shower?
- Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.
- Take 5-minute showers instead of baths. A full bathtub requires up to 70 gallons of water.
- How can you save on laundry?
- At home or while staying in a hotel, reuse your towels.
- Washing dark clothes in cold water saves water and energy, and helps your clothes retain their color.
- How about outside?
- Collect water from your roof by installing gutters and downspouts.
- Use a broom instead of a hose to clean patios, sidewalks and driveways, and save water every time.
- What about my dog?
- Wash your pets outdoors, in an area of your lawn that needs water.
- When you give your pet fresh water, don’t throw the old water down the drain. Use it to water your trees or shrubs.
- How can you help at Lamar?
- Look for ways to save water and encourage your friends to save water
Tips to Save Energy and Money
Even when they're turned off, appliances and electronic gadgets gobble up energy and cost money.
Estimates are that anywhere from 5% to 10% of your residential electricity is sapped by devices that are plugged in 24 hours a day, even when they're just in standby mode.
Think about unplugging these to save both energy and money:
- Desktop and Laptop computers
- Televisions and DVD players
- Modems and Cable TV boxes
- Stereos and radios
- Coffeemakers and Toasters
- Lamps
- iPods and electronic gadgets sapping energy from a plug-in transformer
In 10 years, the Lamar University project has saved 145,950 reduced CO2 emissions.
Lamar University is saving energy by replacing lights in buildings, utilizing motion-sensors, and replacing equipment with energy-efficient upgrades.
Grey Energy is another word for polluting energy or non-renewable energy. In generating gray energy, fossil fuels are used such as coal or gas.
Green Energy is electricity generated from sources that cannot be exhausted. The sources are inexhaustible; it is also called sustainable energy. In the production of renewable electricity CO2 emissions are lower than for gray energy, or there are no CO2 emissions and there are less or no harmful substances that can have a negative effect on the environment and climate.
Bicycle Instead of Driving
Besides cutting down on car transmissions riding a bike is a great way to stay in shape! Lamar provides many amenities to support the bicycling community, including bike racks in various areas around campus, being able to register your bike with Lamar police and a free bike repair station in front of Gentry Hall.