5 Green Actions for Students

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Five ways to green up your act

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Everyday it seems that we hear about the problems that face our environment. From climate change to deforestation to drought, it can feel overwhelming.

The good news is there are lots of simple but effective things you can do to protect our environment so in the next few minutes, I'm going to show you five actions that every student at Monash University can take to really make a difference.

Action: Lights Out
One of the biggest challenges facing our planet is climate change. Scientists have shown that the Earth is warming up rapidly because of the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. A major source of greenhouse gases in Victoria are the coal-fired powerstations that supply most of our electricity.

Monash University uses a lot of energy day in and day out and the majority of that comes from those coal-fired power stations.

Lights at Monash use 25% of the University's total electricity, so turning off a light in an office, a lecture theatre or a tutorial room will make a real and immediate cut to the University's environmental impact. It's easy, and everyone can do it.

Don't be deceived by the old myth that it takes more energy to turn a light back on, than it does to turn it off.

New technology in use at Monash means that turning on a fluorescent light uses just one-tenth of the energy it uses to stay on for just one second! 

That means its always better to turn a light off than to leave it on. Except when I’m in the room. Guys! Hey its dark in here! And if you’re the last one to leave the lecture hall, don’t feel awkward, turn the lights out here too.

Action: Recycling
More and more students and staff are recycling their waste. The recycling rate at Monash climbed from 15% to 30% in the past year alone, but we can all do more.

One of the biggest challenges at Monash is this: almost half of everything that we put in the garbage can actually be recycled so, I'm going to show you the sorts of things that can go in the yellow bin.

• Plastic bottles

• Glass bottles
• Cans
• Plastic food containers
• Milk and juice containers
• Coffee cups
• Newspapers and 
Cardboard

Every time you recycle your waste you help the environment. 

And at Monash, you can be confident that the waste that we collect for recycling is actually recycled. 

Every week, the University's garbage and recycling is collected by two different trucks. From here, the material is taken to a dedicated facility where it is sorted for recycling.

Action: Sustainable Transport
Monash University has nearly 60 000 students and over 10 000 staff, and most of them have to travel to one or more campuses every day. The way we travel can have a big impact on the environment so it pays to make a smart travel choice.

The vehicles on our roads are responsible for around 15% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

This means that when you travel by train, bus, bike or tram, you can be sure that you are saving a lot of energy and greenhouse gas compared to travelling alone in your car.

Of course, public transport and cycling or walking isn’t always are not practical so if you’re one of these people that has to drive to the university for work or study, then why not check out our online carpool matching service.

The service helps you to find people driving to Monash University at a time and place that’s convenient to you. It's a free service that can not only cut your environmental impact but also save you money. That's because car-parking at Monash is free for anyone with a carpool permit who arrives with passengers.

Action: Environmental Pledge
Number four in our top five is the Monash University Environmental Pledge. Since the pledge was introduced at the start of 2010 nearly 6000 students and staff members have taken it. This has raised nearly thirty thousand dollars for renewable energy projects at the University.

So what is the Environmental Pledge?
The pledge is a commitment that every student can make. To take simple actions to help to reduce the energy and water that we use and the waste that we generate.

As a student you can go to the Monash University website at any time and take the pledge. It only takes a few minutes to complete, but for everyone who pledges, Monash University will spend $5 on renewable energy projects each year.

These projects will range from solar panels to wind power, and each one of those projects will make a real difference to the University's impact.

Action: Eat Green
The fifth and final action you can take is to make a smart environmental choice about the food that you eat.

It’s much easier than it sounds because the University has launched a program called Health-Smart Earth Smart.

The Health Smart-Earth Smart program helps students to identify food that is healthy for them and healthy for the planet. At University food outlets – just look for foods labelled Earth Smart at your Monash food outlets.

Health Smart food consists mainly of fruits, vegetables, wholegrain cereals, fat-free/low-fat dairy products, lean meat or fish and are low in saturated fat, salt and sugar.



Earth Smart options are the same except they are meat free and therefore have a reduced impact on the Environment.

It's easy to underestimate the impact that our food has on the environment.

For example, the production of just one kg of beef can emit at least 15 kg of greenhouse gas emissions and require sixteen thousand litres of fresh water.The Health Smart - Earth Smart program is in place at over 15 vendors at Clayton, Berwick, Peninsula and Caulfield

So that wraps up the top five green actions you can take at Monash University - simple actions that you can take to make a real difference to both yours and the University's environmental impact.