For my first post to living a more environmentally friendly life, I wanted to start of with ways to reduce. Reducing is the first R of the 3R’s of going green. The other two being reuse and recycle. So, a site that I visited, wandeleurs, created a list of easy ways to go green. From this list, I chose three ways to reduce that I could use in my life here at PSU.

1. Stop the Tap/Reusable Water Bottles 

One of the best ways to reduce water usage is to turn the faucet off. Turn off the water when you’re not using it while you brush your teeth and shower. Don’t let it keep running. Also, switching to reusable water bottles reduces plastic use. But plastic is recyclable you say? Well, if it is not made from the start, there would be no need to recycle a plastic water bottle. PSU supports the usage of reusable water bottles by its many water bottle refilling stations all over campus. It may seem costly to purchase a reusable water bottle over a two dollar plastic water bottle, but as the water bottle is reused, they pay themselves out. Not to mention you’d be helping the environment. Plus, they come in all different cool shapes and sizes. Reusit is a site that sells a wide variety of different types of reusable water bottles.

2. Turn off the Lights

A way to reduce electricity usage is to turn off the lights. It seems sort of stupid and somewhat like common sense, but there are a lot of people who do not practice this. Turning off lights is a very good way to save energy and electricity. If you are not going to be in a certain room for an extended period of time, turning off the lights will not only save energy and help the Earth, but also could help with your energy bill…slightly.

3. Unplug Electronics

Another way to reduce electricity is to unplug the electronics not in use. Golden Gate Express calls it the “vampire effect” or the “phantom load”. It states that electricity is still being used even if the item is not in use at that very moment. Things like phone chargers, hair dryers, etc are still using energy and electricity even though a phone might not be plugged into it, or even though someone is not drying their hair. Unplugging these items will help to lessen the amount of energy spent on unnecessary things, and could also save you a few bucks.