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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Green Tip Of The Week


A Simple Start.

All the glory and grace that comes with each new school year is always accompanied by the age-old question: “how am I going to keep up with all of my work, AND become a cutting-edge, go green, sustainability guru?”   Well, my advice is to dream big, but start small.  Here are a few green tips to start saving energy right away, that won’t take more than an extra thought:

Turn off the lights when you leave a room.  When I was younger my family had a fishbowl that we had to put a quarter in every time me, or one of siblings, left a light on in an unoccupied room.  Needless to say I spent those years of my life penny-less, but I learned my lesson.  Also, if you have a dimmer switch on your household lights, use them!  I like to think of it as turning down the lights, and turning up the ambiance…

Turn down the heat in the winter.  We all know Rochester can get frigid pretty quick, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep the inside of your house at a tropical temperature.  Keep things reasonably comfortable, but don’t be afraid to wear a sweater and slippers around the house.  Also, setting your household heating on a timer is a great way to save energy and money!  I’ve heard that you turn the heat down 1 degree for every hour you will be out of the house.  You can also put an extra blanket on your bed and turn the heat down a bit at night.

Carpool to work.  Car pooling to work has always been a great way to help save the environment, save on parking, and make new friends!  And, if you’re close enough, you should consider dusting off your bicycle.  A great way to get to work, AND get some exercise!

Get a re-usable grocery bag.  At Wegman’s they are only 99 cents, and they last a really long time.  Plastic grocery bags take about 100 years to degrade.

Don’t leave the water running.  When you’re doing the dishes or brushing your teeth don’t just leave the water running, only turn it on when you really need it!

That’s all for now, keep a look out for more green tips in next week’s tribune! 

AND take a look at green tips from the past, and other great information, on MCC’s new sustainability certificate Web site: https://www.monroecc.edu/depts/Sustainability/index.htm

Pat Joram
Service-Learning
09/17/2009