Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Recover. Reclaim. These watchwords of Stanford’s
5R Recycling Program are crucial to creating a greener environment throughout the university, including Student Housing’s four million square feet of facilities.
By making a few small changes in your daily routine, you can make a major difference on our environment. Please:

• Conserve energy by turning off lights, electronic equipment, and appliances when not in use.
• Conserve water by taking shorter showers, washing only full loads of laundry, and reporting water waste.
• Recycle paper, bottles, and cans in provided containers.

CFL giveaway
How many Stanford students does it take to change a light bulb?

In 2007, seven thousand.

Through a new conservation event—the largest of its kind at an American university—Student Housing has distributed thousands of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to student residents and other Stanford affiliates.

Student Housing already uses CFLs in ceiling lights in student rooms and hallways. The new program—a cooperative effort of Student Housing, the Office of Residential Education, Students for a Sustainable Stanford, the Sierra Club, and Resource Solutions Group—encourages students to use the bulbs in personal desk lamps as well.

If funding is available, we hope to make this an annual event.

Conservation Cup
Save energy. Save water. Win prizes. Join the Conservation Cup held each Winter Quarter and hosted by Student Housing and Students for a Sustainable Stanford. It challenges students in residence halls and houses to compete with each other to reduce energy and water. Winners get prizes and bragging rights. Look for an email about the contest at the start of each Winter Quarter. 2009's winners have been announced.

Abandoned bike auction
For transportation, consider buying a bike that has been abandoned on campus. Each year, Stanford auctions these bikes, which have been collected by the police department and repaired/reconditioned by the campus Bike Shop. They cost about $15 to $125.00—only what they cost to fix and license. Often, you can get a bike worth much more.

Goodwill cleanup
Each year Student Housing and Goodwill Industries of Silicon Valley host a cleanup during Spring Term when students are moving out. Donated items receive welcome second lives and are diverted from local landfills. Also, the resale of donated items enables Goodwill to provide training and employment for local community members. Look for dates and drop-off locations in the Student Housing calendar and newsletters.

Greenfest
To raise awareness and educate people about sustainability on campus, Students for a Sustainable Stanford host an outreach festival in front of Tresidder Union in the spring. Student Housing participates in the festival, which centers on Stanford’s sustainability efforts and promotes environmentalism with posters, fliers, and freebies such as cloth-made grocery bags.

Earth Week
In a combination fair, forum, and educational expo, Stanford’s annual Earth Week celebrates environmental successes and explores solutions to our pressing environmental issues. Hosted each April by Stanford’s Environmental Representatives and Students for a Sustainable Stanford, the week-long series of lectures and activities encourages people to become more conscious both of their buying habits and their impact on the environment.

Back to Contents

• Join Students for a Sustainable Stanford, the driving force behind the Energy Bowl & Water Derby as well as projects that range from raising environmental awareness in the Stanford community to encouraging corporations to improve their recycling efforts and phase out toxic substances from their products.
• Join the Green Living Council, a network of student representatives from dorms and houses across campus working to encourage sustainable lifestyles at Stanford.  It's a great opportunity to take on an environmental leadership role among your peers and get training and resources to help you implement sustainability programs and campaigns in your residence.
• Draw on resources of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). This association of colleges and universities works to advance sustainability in higher education in the U.S.
• Visit Sustainable Stanford to learn more how Stanford is building on three concepts—environment, economy, equity—to create a sustainable future.

How You Can Help Save Energy

With just five percent of the world’s population, the United States generates 25 percent of all greenhouse gases. Electricity production is the largest contributor and, in California, resources are stretched to the point that we have become vulnerable to occasional rolling blackouts.

You can help save energy by adopting these simple practices:

• Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
• Turn off your computer when not in use.
• Report non-functioning light fixtures.
• Don’t open windows when the heat is on.
• Use natural light during the day.
• Minimize decorative lighting. When you do decorate, use LED rope lights.
• Wash clothes in cold water.
• Use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs for personal lamps; they use only one-fourth the energy and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs. Learn about Student Housing’s CFL giveaways.
• Unplug appliances when not in use.
• Share a refrigerator.
• Walk or ride a bicycle whenever you can.
• Use Energy Star-rated appliances.

Stanford uses about 2.7 million gallons of potable water per day—28 percent in housing. The University has implemented aggressive water conservation measures to sustain its water supply—and to stay within its San Francisco Public Utilities Commission water allocation.

In Northern California’s frequent drought conditions, it’s especially important for all of us to reduce water use. By using less water, you also help decreasewater pollution, increase energy savings, and create more efficient use of our water resources.

Please:

• Turn off dripping faucets and showers.
• Report water leaks to your Housing Supervisor.
• Take short showers.
• Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
• Do only full laundry loads.
• Run sink faucets two minutes less and save three gallons of water.
• Run only full loads of laundry and dishes.
• Report running toilets, broken sprinklers and other water waste (call 725-1602 or submit a Fix-it request ).
• Don’t flush trash down the toilet.
• Take your car to a car wash that recycles water; car washing is prohibited on the Stanford campus.

Back to Contents

What can you recycle?

Almost anything.

Except the planet.

The average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. You can make a difference by recycling or properly disposing of:

Almost any household product
Use the recycling bins near your residence (and in undergraduate residence hall rooms) to recycle almost everything you use on a day-to-day basis: cans and bottles; any paper that tears, including books; plastic bags and bubble wrap; corrugated cardboard and brown paper bags.

Computers, printer cartridges, phones, calculators
You can recycle almost any electronic waste - including your defunct computer monitor, television, laptop computer, fax machine, printer, copier, VCR, plasma screen, printer cartridges, phones, and calculators.

Drop e-waste off at the Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc. office (321-4236), 339 Bonair Siding. Hours are 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. You will need your ID/proof of residence at Stanford.

Get answers to commonly asked questions about E-waste.

You also can recycle E-waste at:

• Fry’s Electronics in Palo Alto (free of charge)
• Locations listed at http://recyclestuff.org/
• Locations listed on San Mateo County’s Where to Recycle E-Waste page

Polystyrene blocks and peanuts
Take them to a UPS store, post office, or mail center for reuse. Some students take peanuts to day care centers for children to use in art projects.

Scrap metal, wood, and yard waste
Take these items to the Stanford Recycling Drop-Off Center at 701 Serra Street. Please presort all materials before you place them in bins.

Mercury thermometers
Mercury thermometers are prohibited in all Student Housing residences. However, many health clinics, pharmacies and doctor’s offices have thermometer exchange programs and will give you a new mercury-free fever thermometer in exchange for your old one.

Athletic shoes
Drop off your (relatively clean and dry) sneakers and athletic shoes for reuse and recycling at the Stanford Recycling Drop-off Center, 701 Serra Street. Please tie the shoes together for easier sorting.

Your bicycle
"Recycle Your Cycle" rather than abandon your bike. Registered bike owners can drop off their bicycles at the Department of Public Safety (DPS).

DPS donates the bikes to local charities or makes them available at no cost to university departments.

To donate your bicycle, email PublicSafety@lists.stanford.edu or call 732-9633.

Batteries and other household hazardous waste
Never use hazardous materials such as gasoline or other flammable liquid, paint thinner, or corrosive materials near a residence. Also, do not put batteries or other hazardous waste items in the garbage or curbside recycling bins. These materials - known as "universal hazardous waste" - need to be recycled or properly disposed of away from landfill sites.

You can recycle or dispose of:

• Small A, C, D cell alkaline batteries. Please dispose of these batteries in the five-gallon white Battery buckets found at some residence recycling areas, or in one-gallon containers in some computer clusters.
• Automotive and industrial batteries. Local businesses such as Orchard Supply Hardware, Kragen Auto Parts, and Radio Shack accept batteries for safe disposal.
• Fluorescent lamps, including low-mercury lamps; compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), straight, circular, spiral and U-bent tubes. The Environmental Protection Agency prohibits disposal in landfills of any fluorescent bulbs; for a list of drop-off locations, visit http://recyclestuff.org/ or contact the Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program (408-299-7300).
• Motor oil. Changing automotive fluids is not allowed at Stanford residences. Do not pour motor oil on the ground or down any drain; take used motor oil to an automotive service business for proper disposal.
• Other universal and hazardous waste including gasoline, paint thinner, garden chemicals, corrosive materials, and explosives. For a list of drop-off locations, visit http://recyclestuff.org/ or contact the Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program.

Contact your Housing Supervisor or Regional Housing Manager if you have questions about using or storing hazardous materials.

Everything else
You can find a recycling center for almost everything: ovens, dishwashers, furniture in usable condition, hazardous waste, yard waste, chemicals, and more at http://recyclestuff.org/. Its search engine will find places where you can recycle and reuse stuff, including Goodwill, American Cancer Society Discovery Shops, Urban Ministries, and recycling centers that specialize in certain materials and items.

Back to Contents

How To be A Locavore

You are a locavore when you become a patron of local, farm-fresh produce. Buying locally saves energy by cutting down on transportation costs associated with long-distance shipping. Also, many people think farm-fresh tastes, smells, and looks better than produce found in supermarkets.

Here are two ways to buy farm fresh on campus:

• Visit the produce stand at Tresidder. Every Friday from noon to 5:00 p.m. during the growing season, you can buy farm-fresh organic fruits and vegetables at Stanford Dining’s produce stand in front of Tresidder Memorial Union.

• Pre-order organic produce. Two Small Farms, based in Watsonville and Hollister, supplies organic vegetables, greens, strawberries, flowers, and herbs to members of the Stanford community who have joined the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Members buy a share in the output of the farms and pick up weekly shipments delivered to a distribution point in Escondido Village.

Student Housing sponsors the site as part of its portfolio of services provided to Stanford student residents, faculty, and staff. A student-sponsored group (not affiliated with Student Housing) also operates a produce pickup site at Stanford West Apartments.

Learn more/join CSA

Back to Contents

From Books to Bikes

• SU Post. Look online at SU Post for the things you need. Only Stanford affiliates can post ads on the site, which lists items for sale such as bikes, furniture, textbooks, baby equipment, and more.
• The su.market and su.market.textbooks. Look for used bikes, furniture, appliances, textbooks, and other items at these Stanford-only bulletin boards.

To access them, you’ll need Usenet newsreader software such as Netscape Navigator’s "Netscape News" window, and access to a Usenet news host that receives the su.market newsgroup.

Learn how to connect to this and other newsgroups either from the Stanford network or from off campus.

• Village Rental Co-op (VRC). Any member of the Stanford community can rent camping gear, baby equipment, futons and roll-away beds, games and sports equipment, steam cleaners, vacuums, and more from the Village Rental Co-op (497-5088). Located in the basement of Abrams House in Escondido Village, the VRC is open Monday evenings.

See rental inventory.

• International Student Loan Closet. International students may borrow basic housekeeping equipment such as pots, pans, dishes, and bedding from the Community Committee for International Students (CCIS) Loan Closet, located in the basement of Abrams House in Escondido Village. Registration is $20 per couple, $10 for single students.

The Loan Closet is open by appointment. Contact the I-Center Information Desk at 723-1271.