Inside Iowa State

May 1, 2009

Live Green!

Green tip of the week: Be a czar

by Merry Rankin, director of sustainability

As the semester winds down, here is a sustainability challenge to take with you, whether you're leaving campus or staying around and shifting into summer mode: Take all the information you've learned from this semester's "live green" tips and empower yourself to be a czar.

You're well-armed to make an incredible sustainability difference in your communities, offices and homes over the summer. Need a few specific ideas? Try these:

• Gather the loose ends. Be the person who turns off the lights, reports the leaky faucet or empties the recycling bin. Don't assume someone else will do it. Take the lead.
• Start a movement. Find an opportunity to make a bigger "live green" difference. Get a green team going, look for ways to reduce paper consumption, or put strategies into place to reduce energy use by items that are unnecessarily plugged in.
• Be a role model. Be the person who "walks the talk." Bring your own bag, refill your reusable cup or water bottle, look for Energy Star and green-certified products, ride CyRide and use community coffee pots and network printers rather than personal duplicates.

Until next fall, take the opportunity to share sustainability wisdom whenever you can. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Have a great summer!

Live Green!

More information on Iowa State's "Live Green!" initiative is online.