What You Can Do

There are numerous ways to get involved and do your part to conserve resources. Once you realize how convenient it is to become more proactive towards sustainability, incorporating environmentally-friendly actions into your daily routine will be easy. See our our Testimonials Archive to learn what others have done to reduce their environmental impact and what you can do to follow in their shoes.  You can also take the pledge to Treasure Our Planet.  Continue reading to learn how you can reduce your carbon foot print when shopping, commuting or just sitting in your home!

Conserving Energy

You can help reduce your gas and electricity bills each month while helping to protect the environment by making a few small changes to your daily routines. Follow the simple tips below to save in more ways than one! For more ideas see what the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative says you can do to conserve energy.

When it’s Chilly Outside…

• If you have a thermostat, in the colder months turn it down when you leave for the day. Every degree by which the thermostat is lowered saves 2 percent. Report all overheating to the Boston College Work Order Center at ext. 2-3048.
• Do not block radiators or heating vents with furniture or draperies.
• Close and lock all operable windows. By locking the window, you are forming a tighter seal. If the window is broken or won’t lock properly, please report it to the Boston College Work Order Center at ext. 2-3048.
• Open the shades and use natural light whenever you can during winter days. Close shades at night to help insulate and reduce drafts.

When it’s Warm Outside…

• Close drapes and blinds to keep out direct sunlight during the day.
• Keep windows closed during the heat of the day.
• Set air conditioner thermostats only as high as is comfortable in the summer.
• Turn the air conditioner off 30 minutes before you leave.
• Don't set your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool any faster.
• Limit the opening of refrigerators.
• Use a toaster-oven or small microwave when cooking small to moderately sized meals.
• Please continue to turn off lights, monitors and appliances (not computers) when you leave a room and unplug chargers when not in use.
• By planting trees around your house, you can reduce home cooling costs by as much as 50% and grow yourself a little shade on a warm summer day.

Tips for All Seasons…

• When they’re not in use, turn off—or where possible unplug—items (other than computers) that consume electricity: lights, individual coffee makers, televisions and other electronic equipment. Laptops, battery chargers, TVs, stereos and other electronics continue to draw electricity when plugged in. In particular, unplug laptops and chargers (cell phone, iPod, Palm Pilot, et. al.) when you are not recharging the batteries.
• Turn off your computer monitor when it is not in use.
• Review requirements and assignments for turning off office equipment such as printers, copiers and other equipment.
• Turn off office, classroom and task lights when not in use.
• When possible use task lights, with compact fluorescent lighting, rather than overhead lights. Open office blinds for natural light.
• Run full loads in washers and dryers. Use “warm” or “cold” instead of “hot” water settings whenever possible.
• The typical U.S. family spends $1,300 a year on home energy bills. (MassSAVE)
• Most utility companies provide a no-cost home energy assessment. An energy expert will look at your home from roof to basement and identify where energy efficiency improvements can be made.
• Call 1-800-632-8300 to learn more or go to www.masssave.com.

For Lighting…

• If every home in New England changed just one light to an Energy Star qualified one, the savings would total more than $45 million each year.
• Use compact fluorescent lights. Changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs will save 720 pounds of carbon per year and cut lighting costs by 75%. One incandescent bulb left on for 4 hours per day costs $15 per year and the average house has 40 bulbs.
• Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) last up to 10 times longer than traditional bulbs and use only a fraction of the energy, saving you money over their lifespan
• If you live in an old house, compact fluorescents are safer to use because they don’t overload the wiring and don’t generate as much heat as incandescent bulbs.
• Holiday lights using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) use one-tenth the energy of typical mini-lights and are cooler, which reduces fire risk.
• Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets.
• Turn off the lights when leaving a room or install motion-sensors.

For Appliances…

• When possible, purchase appliances that have the Energy Star label. They will save you money over the life of the appliance.
• Unplug appliances when not in use; they may still take energy from the socket if they are plugged in. as much as 10% of energy use for appliances is consumed even when switched off.
• Consider using a laptop computer which uses 50% less energy than a desktop. If you use a desktop, shut off the monitor when not in use.
• Shut the door. Every minute of a refrigerator opened requires 3 minutes of energy to cool it.
• Keep your refrigerator between 37 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit and your freezer at 5 degrees to maximize energy efficiency without spoilage. A full freezer or fridge uses less energy. Objects hold cold temperatures better than air. Something as simple as putting a few gallons of water in the fridge when it’s empty can save you money.
• If you have an ancient refrigerator in the garage or the basement, chances are high that it is an energy hog. Use ice and coolers for holiday party needs and get rid of the second refrigerator.
• Clean the lint filter to keep the dryer at a high efficiency level
• Consider air drying clothes

Conserving Water

There are many simple steps you can make to reduce your water consumption:

• Shortening your showers by just 1-2 minutes will save up to 700 gallons/month.
• Turning off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving saves 3 gallons/day, which adds up to 1,095 gallons/year.
• Lower your hot water thermostat. Every 10-degree temperature reduction saves 3 to 5 percent off your water heating bill.
• Drink tap water from a reusable container rather than bottled water.
• Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water required more than 1.5 million barrels of oil last year.
• Improvements to the MWRA purification system have improved the taste of the water.
• Use a low flow toilet and a low flow shower head.
  
• Low flow showerheads and faucet aerators can reduce your hot water consumption by half.
• If you don’t have a low flow toilet, fill a 2 liter coke bottle w/ water and put it inside the toilet tank. It shouldn’t affect the performance of the toilet and will save water with every flush.
• Fix leaky pipes or faucets immediately.
• Wash clothes in cold water, not hot, and remember to only wash full loads.  Washing your clothes in cold water can save up to $400 a year in bills.
• When washing dishes by hand use a sink full of water instead of running water. Dishwashers use less energy than washing by hand.
• Use non-toxic cleaning materials.

The MWRA’s website has many other tips for conserving water in your dorm, home, or apartment.

Or learn over 100 ways you can save water by visiting the site for Water – Use it Wisely

If you are having a meeting, consider using a pitcher of tap water instead of bottled water.
Boston is fortunate enough to have one of the freshest and best tasting water supplies in the world.  The Massachusetts Water & Reservoir Authority (MWRA) supplies and regulates the supply of water to Boston, including Boston College's campus. "Boston is one of just five cities in the country with tap water so pure that it's exempt from Environmental Protection Agency filtration requirements."
Read the Boston Globe article "Pure Water Right on Tap." 

OR, see for yourself:  take a blind taste test of your own tap water and bottled water--see if you can even tell the difference!  You might even surprise yourself and choose tap water as the best tasting.

Know Your Facts

Waste & Recycling Facts

• US recycling facilities earn $2.981 million per year.
  
• Recycling has increased 7% in the past 5 years.
• The average college student produces 640 pounds of solid waste each year, including 500 disposable cups and 320 pounds of paper.
•  In a lifetime, the average American will throw away 600 times his or her adult weight in garbage. This means that each adult will leave a legacy of 90,000 lbs. of trash for his or her children.
• Americans comprise about five percent of the world's population, and annually produce 27 percent of the world's garbage.

Plastic

• 1 recycled bottle saves enough energy to run a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours.  It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than making a new bottle.
• Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it.
• We throw away 25,000,000 plastic bottles every hour.
• Five recycled plastic bottles make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket.
• 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to make bottles every year, a waste that could instead power 250,000 homes.
• Globally, we use as many as 1 million new plastic bags every minute at a cost of 2.2 billion gallons of oil a year.

Paper

• The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection estimates that Massachusetts’ businesses threw away 1.6 million tons of paper in 2006, at a cost of $100 million dollars for disposal.  Traditional waste disposal creates greenhouse gas emissions that result from the decomposition of waste in landfills and the burning of waste in incinerators.  Making new paper from recycled materials uses less energy than producing paper from virgin tree products and leaves more trees to absorb carbon dioxide in the forest. 
• The average American uses 7 trees and 680 lbs of paper per year.
• If every American recycled 1/10th of their newspapers, we would save 25,000,000 trees per year.
• Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
• The amount of office paper wasted each year in Massachusetts is enough to fill Fenway Park to the height of the Prudential Building.
• To produce one trillion pages of paper takes 8.5 million acres of trees, representing an area larger than the country of Belgium or the state of Maryland.
• It takes 390 gallons of oil to produce a ton of paper.
• Today, 62 million newspapers will be printed in the U.S., and 44 million will be thrown away. That means the equivalent of about 500,000 trees will be dumped into landfills this week.
• One person uses two pine trees worth of paper products each year.

Aluminum & Tin

• The aluminum foil on Hersey's Kisses is recyclable.  133 square miles per day are used to wrap the candies.
• There is no limit to the number of times an aluminum can can be recycled.
• Aluminum cans are the #1 recycled item.  Because of this they make up less than 1% of the US waste.
• A recycled aluminum can is back on the shelf within 60 days.
• Recycling two aluminum cans saves the amount of energy it takes to power a PC for one workday.
• Every day Americans use enough steel and tin cans to make a steel pipe running from Los Angeles to New York and back.
• You can make 20 new cans from recycled material with the same energy it takes to make 1 from scratch.

Glass

• Glass bottles takes 4000 years to decompose.
• Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever.

Oil

• 1 quart of motor oil can contaminate 2 million gallons of fresh water.
  
• Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty.  It can be recycled.

The above information is courtesy of:
MassSave
Live Earth
K.E.M.

Commuting

Getting from point A to point B can cost money, time and place a heavy strain on the environment. But only if you choose to! There are many ways to make commuting environmentally-friendly and cost effective, especially with the steady price increases of energy.

See our Transportation Page to learn the various ways to commute to and from campus, as well as throughout the Boston community without inflicting unnecessary harm on the environment.

Or try some of any of these helpful tips:

• Purchase or drive a fuel efficient car (30+mi per gallon). When possible, walk, ride a bicycle, or use public transportation.
• Ride public transit and help conserve an estimated 1.4 billion gallons of gas and curb the release of roughly 1.5 million tons of harmful CO2 a year.
• Idling gets you 0 miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
• Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, and hard braking) wastes gas. It can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.
• Avoid high speeds. Above 60 mph, gas mileage drops rapidly. The fueleconomy.gov web site shows how driving speed affects gas mileage.
• Drive a Zipcar! Each zipcar replaces over twenty privately-owned vehicles as owners sell their previously owned cars, drive less and use alternative forms of transportation.

Biking offers a way of travel that’s healthy for you and the environment. One of the Facilities Management Departments own, Sunil Gulab, bikes to work everyday from Lynn to Chestnut Hill….MORE.

The links below provide further information on walking and biking within Boston and Massachusetts.

Bike the Hub
Livable Streets
Mass Bike
Walk Boston

Shopping

Now more then ever consumer choices impact business and economic decisions. Due to increased global awareness about climate change and the negative effects of human activity on the environment, it has become easier to find sustainable products while shopping. Let corporations know sustainability and the environment are important to you by choosing to purchase the right products. Here are some things to consider while browsing the isles of your favorite stores. Ask yourself, “Is this product…

• recyclable?”
• made from recycled material?”
• energy efficient?”
• ecologically friendly?”
• durable?”
• locally produced?”

Many products have labels demonstrating their sustainability. Energy Star appliances in particular conserve energy and are good for the environment. Also, many cleaning products are hazardous to the environment and should be chosen carefully.

At the Boston College Bookstore you can find books on sustainability, styling sweatshirts to wear instead of turning up the heat, and even energy-efficient light bulbs.

Not sure where to shop? Check out the sites below for products made from recycled material or were fairly traded.

Ethical Superstore
Doy Bags
Silverchilli
RecycleBag
Reusable Bags
Global Exchange: Fair Trade Shopping
Loll Designs
1% for the Planet
Co-op America’s Business Seal of Approval

Shopping at local farmers markets supports the hard work of smaller farms, and is healthier for you and the environment since fewer pesticides and fertilizers are used. Making a stop at the farmers market is a  fun event for friends, family and neighbors! Find out more about the farmers markets near you:

Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets
Department of Agriculture