The planet Earth is home to plants and animals alike and has been for the last three billion years. Since the seventies, air and water quality have vastly improved through the efforts of the environmental movement. However, despite this progress numerous problems still plague our natural world.
Fish and seafood stocks are rapidly being over-harvested and depleted, clean air guidelines have been violated, some bodies of water are still unsuitable for human recreation, and harmful chemicals consistently enter the environment and consequently the human body. You might be reading this and thinking to yourself, “Well, how does this affect me?”
Everyone is impacted by changes to the environment and environmental regulations, even if those effects cannot be viewed visibly or immediately. Modifications to the cost of goods and services often have environmental roots and certain health problems, such as asthma and skin cancer, are directly related to the environment. Since we live on the Earth, the state of our planet affects us all even when the impacts are hidden. The good news is there are plenty of positive actions individuals can perform to help protect and preserve the natural ecology of the planet.
Living in a campus environment, such as Princeton’s, tends to separate the individual from the “real world.” The campus is its own little community bubble, and it is easy to forget that the things we do and the decisions we make while we are here still have consequences on the natural environment and the rest of the world. However, there are many simple measures students can perform to help Princeton conserve energy and water, become more efficient and eco-friendly, and lessen the ecological footprint of the University.
This pamphlet was created as a starting point to foster environmental awareness on the Princeton campus.
Additionally, the pamphlet provides helpful tips and information to allow students to make small changes to their lifestyles in order to demonstrate that a single person can indeed make a difference and that being more environmentally conscious is not difficult. Instead, the principles can be easily interwoven into an individual’s life.

Helpful Tips to Lower Energy Consumption

Enable the sleep mode on your computer and allow the monitor to deactivate after ten minutes of nonuse

Do not leave computers on all night

Turn off lights when leaving the room/bathroom

Unplug appliances when not in use

Use compact fluorescent lights instead of incandescent bulbs

Buy Energy Star appliances and electronics

Purchase a standard phone with a cord rather than a cordless model, which require constant energy

Wash clothes on the cold water cycle and only run full loads

Keep windows closed when the air conditioning/heat is on

Adjust the heat if there is a thermostat in your room turning it down whenever you leave, especially over long breaks

Turn off and defrost refrigerator over long breaks

Unplug cell phone charger when charging is complete

Use natural light rather than electric when possible
Did You Know…?

The energy we use in our homes causes more greenhouse gas emissions than driving our cars 1

If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution equal to removing one million cars from the road
2

ENERGY STAR CFLs use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last 10 times longer.
3
Handy Phone Numbers and Information:

Contact the department of Facilities if a light is out in your room or if the heat is uncomfortably high in the building. The phone number is (609) 258-8000 or you can fill out an online work request form at http://facilities.princeton.edu/Customer/workrequest.htm

Find out more about Energy Star appliances and electronics at http://www.energystar.gov/

Contact OIT if a cluster computer does not power down to sleep mode or the monitor does not shut off after ten minutes of nonuse. To reach the OIT help desk dial 8-

HELP or http://web.princeton.edu/sites/oit/index.htm
Instructions on enabling the sleep mode on your computer can be found at http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=pm_enable.pr_p
m_home_enable
1 Energy Star website: Did You Know fact www.energystar.gov
2 Energy Star website http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls
3 Energy Star website http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls

Helpful Tips to Lower Water Consumption:

Take fewer and shorter showers

Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth

Do not run the water before getting into the shower

Turn off the water in the shower when lathering your hair and/or body

Only wash full loads of laundry

Use front loading washers and dryers instead of top loading in buildings where they are available such as
Little or Blair/Buyers

Do not use the toilet as a garbage bin. Toss tissues and waste into trashcans.

Report leaky faucets, toilets, and showerheads

Do not wash harmful chemicals down the drain in laboratories
Did you know…?

25-50 gallons of water are used in the average five minute shower
4
 Only 1% of the earth’s water is suitable for drinking 5
4 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/trivia.pdf
5 EPA website http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/trivia.pdf

Full-sized Energy Star washers use 18-25 gallons of water per load instead of the 40 gallons used by standard machines
6

Water on campus is supplied by Elizabethtown water company
7

Princeton uses approximately 237,457,119.0 gallons of water annually
8
Handy Phone Numbers and Information:

Contact the department of Facilities in the Macmillan
Building if you notice a leaky faucet, toilet, or showerhead. The phone number is (609) 258-8000 or fill out an online work request at http://facilities.princeton.edu/Customer/workrequest.htm

Princeton is part of the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed.
Check out information about the health of the watershed at http://www.thewatershed.org/
6 Energy star website www.energystar.gov
7 Preliminary Evaluation of Princeton University’s Water Consumption
Practices: Prepared by Robert Ortego April 2004
8 Preliminary Evaluation of Princeton University’s Water Consumption
Practices: Prepared by Robert Ortego April 2004

Helpful Tips to Lower Waste Production:
Reduce

Buy non-perishable items in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging

Edit on screen instead of on paper

Send email instead of paper communication

Advertise an event through electronic flyering and/or mass publications such as the Daily Princetonian or the
Nassau Weekly rather than flyering the whole campus

Print and copy double sided to reduce paper consumption

Only take the food you will eat in the dining hall to limit foodwaste

Carry a tote/bag for shopping so you do not have to use a plastic bag

Purchase durable rather than disposable or one-time use products

Choose simple products containing the least amount of bleaches, dyes, and fragrances
Reuse

Carry around a reusable cup: Café Vivian and the Frist
Campus Center offer a discount for mug luggers

Buy a water filter and refill a reusable container instead of buying cases of bottled water

Use the back of previously used paper for notes

Reuse plastic bags from stores

Purchase second hand furniture and clothing

Do not remove reusable plates, bowels, cups or utensils from the dining facilities

Use Salesline to find deals on furniture/goods on campus

Use Bookline to find discounted books on campus
Recycle

Recycle plastic, paper, cans, bottles, and batteries in the appropriate containers

Separate foodwaste properly in the dining halls

Buy products, such as paper, with a high content of post-consumer recycled material

The thrift store, Nearly New, is located on 234 Nassau
Street and offers secondhand clothing, shoes, and select items.

Salesline and Bookline are both located on the USG website at http://www.princeton.edu/usg/

Contact the department of Building Services if in need of a recycling container or if you have a question at
(609) 258-8000.

9
Item
Anti-freeze
Batteries

Lithium

Alkaline

Magnesium

Mercury

Nickel Cadmium

Lead Acid
Car batteries
Computers
Electronic equipment
Food-Uneaten
Food Wastes
Fluorescent bulbs containing mercury
Oil
Mercury and mercurycontaining equipment
Transparencies
Procedure
Collected by Garage or
EHS
Battery receptacles are located in Frick,
Engineering Quad,
Lewis Thomas Lab and
Physics or special arrangement with
Building Services
Contact
Chuck Gash
(Garage) or
Steve Elwood
(EHS)
Al King,
(Building
Services)
Collected by Electric
Shop or Garage
Ken Grayson
(Electric) or
Chuck Gash
Must go through Surplus Sam Formica
(Purchasing)
Must go through Surplus Sam Formica
Donated to local soup kitchen
Sue Pierson
(Dining
Services)
Al King
Al King
Used for animal feed
Marked bulb boxes collected by Building
Services
Collected with chemical waste or may be brought to Garage
Collected with chemical waste or by appointment
Sent to 3M-Gemark for recycling
Steve Elwood or Chuck Gash
Joan Hutzly
(EHS)
3M
9 http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/chemwaste/recycling.htm
Glass, Aluminum and Plastic:

Glass bottles and jars

Detergent/softener containers

Aluminum, steel, tin cans

Plastic drink bottles

Soda cans and bottles

Paper juice and milk cartons

Juice containers and boxes

Yogurt containers
Paper

Brown Paper bags

Newsprint, Cardboard

Envelopes (All)

Magazines, Pamphlets

Manila Folders

Paperback books

Phone books

Post-Its, Paper board

Pads, NCR Forms

Computer, fax, office,
Kraft, colored paper

Index Cards, Posters
Pallets
Pipette tip containers
Scrap metal
Bottle and Cans recycling receptacles
Gray containers with a circular opening in the hallways of dormitories
Tri-compartmentalized bins inside Frist
Green receptacles next to trashcans on campus
Paper recycling receptacles
Designated black bins located in dorm rooms
Tri-compartmentalized bins inside Frist
Arrange through
Building Services
Arrange through building services
Al King
Al King
Al King
Mary Zikos
(Molecular
Biology)
Al King
Tires
Special arrangement with Building Services
Collected by Garage Chuck Gash

Helpful Tips to Promote Environmentally Friendly
Consumption:

Eat food that requires less energy to produce: vegetables/fruit rather than meat

Eat meat fewer times during the week

Eat organic food, which helps decrease the amount of pesticides used in agriculture

Make sustainable food decisions: Purchase produce in season and sustainably harvested seafood

Buy non-perishable items in bulk

Buy fair trade, organic coffee where offered
Did You Know….?

Princeton sends its food waste to Neil McIntyre:
Recyclers of Food waste were the excess food is sterilized and fed to pigs
 The dining halls and Café Vivian serve Fair Trade organic coffee

In the past two years campus Dining halls have increased the amount of local and organic food served during meals

Princeton University recycled 638 tons of Food Scraps in
2003
10
10 Annual Recycling numbers from John Baer in Building Services
Handy Phone Numbers and Information:

Audubon Seafood Wallet Card provides good information on sustainable seafood http://www.audubon.org/campaign/lo/seafood/seafood_w allet.pdf

Wild Oats and Whole Earth are two food markets in
Princeton specializing in organic and healthy food: Wild
Oats is located on 255 Nassau Street and Whole Earth is located at 360 Nassau Street #1

More on Fair Trade products can be found on The Fair
Trade Federation website: http://www.fairtradefederation.org/

Email dining services with questions at ds@princeton.edu
and visit the webpage for more information http://facilities.princeton.edu/dining/

Helpful Tips to Promote Environmentally Friendly Forms of Transportation:

Do not use a car on campus

Walk, ride a bike, or take a shuttle instead of driving a car

Use public transportation such as New Jersey Transit or
Septa instead of driving into the Philadelphia or New
York City

Take the bus to the Princeton Shopping Center or the
Quakerbridge Mall

Eat at local restaurants in walking distance

Have McCaffreys deliver groceries rather than driving to the market or buy food from Wild Oats or Whole Earth, which are both in walking distance

Use Rideline to find carpools home during breaks

Use and airporter or the train to travel to the airport

Amtrak stops at Princeton junction providing an alternative to traveling by car

Greyhound bus service also provides transportation to many cities and destinations and is located in Trenton and
Newark, New Jersey
Did You Know…?

Many local restaurants and establishments offer discounts for Princeton students for a complete list see http://www.princeton.edu/usg/services/discount.shtml

The average car releases five tons of Carbon dioxide a year
11

There are currently more than 8000 parking spaces on the
Princeton campus
12
Handy Telephone Numbers and Information:

Two New Jersey Transit Bus Routes Serve Princeton and the University. They are the 605 and the 606. For more information visit the USG website for schedule and destination information http://www.princeton.edu/usg/services/bus.shtml
.

The USG also runs the rideline program allowing students to post notices to find carpools home or offer rides visit the Rideboard for more information http://campuscgi.princeton.edu/~usg/salesline/see.pl?rideb
oard
 Information on McCaffrey’s free delivery service can be found in the Independent Student Guide http://www.princeton.edu/~isg/mccaffreys.shtml

A list of local restaurants in walking distance can also be found in the Independent Student Guide http://www.princeton.edu/~isg/reviews.shtml

Visit New Jersey Transit www.njtransit.com
, Septa www.septa.com
, Amtrak www.amtrak.com
and
Greyhound www.greyhound.com
for schedules and information

More information on the Princeton Airporter can be found at http://www.goairporter.com/
11 Pollution Fact: http://www.capitolrideshare.com/ridefiles/pollution.htm
12 2000 Audit of Princeton University

The tips contained in this guide are simply suggestions and ways to foster environmentalism within students on
Princeton’s campus. Not all the tips need to be followed. They are simply ideas presented to integrate environmental strategies easily into the student’s lifestyle. For individuals with greater interest in helping the environment and raising awareness campus environmental organizations are listed below.
Greening Princeton :
Greening Princeton is a student organization working to implement more environmentally conscious practices in many aspects of the university. Projects include introducing local and organic produce into the dining halls, purchasing more environmentally friendly products, and reducing container waste. For more information visit the website at http://www.eeb.princeton.edu/~kaichan/GP_flyer_files/slide00
01.htm
or email greening@princeton.edu
Princeton Environmental Action (PEA):
PEA is a group of undergraduate students committed to improving the environment and raising awareness of environmental issues through campaigns and actions on local and national issues. Past projects have included teaming up with Water Watch to raise awareness about mercury in the environment and promoting energy conservation among students. For more information visit the website at http://www.princeton.edu/~pea/pea/index.html
or contact Erica
Lee elee@princeton.edu
or Tom Brennan tbrennan@princeton.edu
.
Water Watch:
Water Watch is a student organization working to empower students and community members to address water quality problems in New Jersey through education and service.
Projects include: Cleanups, Stream monitoring, and
Environmental Education. For more information visit the website at http://www.princeton.edu/~njh2o/index.htm
or contact njh2o@princeton.edu
.
Princeton Environmental Oversight Committee (PEOC):
PEOC is a coalition of undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and administrators working to monitor the University’s relationship with the environment and encourage improvement in that relationship. Past accomplishments have included getting the university to switch office use paper to 100% post consumer content and purchasing global electric motor (GEM) carts. For more information visit the website at http://web.princeton.edu/sites/peoc/index.htm
.
Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI):
PEI coordinates environmental education, research, and outreach activities on the Princeton campus. The undergraduate program offers a Certificate in Environmental
Studies and it also administers graduate, postdoctoral training, and fellowship programs. For more information visit the PEI website http://web.princeton.edu/sites/pei/