Everyday Choices for Environmental Stewardship
Everyday choices are one type of stewardship. Each of us can take responsibility for improving environmental quality and contributing to a sustainable future. Individual actions collectively produce significant benefits. Below are basic individual actions you can implement while living in the residence halls and off-campus. The practical information and tools provided here make stewardship easier and rewarding.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS
Flip It
☐ When you leave a room, turn off the lights.
☐ Turn off the ceiling lights and use task lighting at your desk. Make sure your desk lamp has an ENERGY STAR certified LED bulb. If there’s enough daylight coming through your window, turn off your desk lamp, too.
☐ Just once, configure power management features on your computer.
Be Water Wise
☐ While brushing your teeth or shaving, turn off the tap.
☐ When showering, challenge yourself to limit your shower to five minutes.
Rethink, Reduce and Reuse
☐ Everyday, purchase and throw away less.
☐ Most of the time, use a reusable beverage container.
☐ Always, donate items you cannot personally reuse. Buy second-hand items.
☐ After you reduce and reuse, then recycle.
GREENER LIVING
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AND EVENTS
The Greening Your Event Program includes a brief event planning checklist and offers suggestions for making more sustainable choices around catering, transportation, energy, and more.
Student organizations can do the following to advance environmental stewardship and sustainability at JMU:
- Adopt a sustainability statement into your constitution. A suggested statement is:
“Name of organization” is a partner in advancing sustainability at JMU. We will lead and participate in activities/initiatives that promote environmental literacy and sustainability, and our organization and its individual members will adopt environmental stewardship practices. Annually, we will set environmental stewardship goals in the categories of engagement, purchasing, transportation, food and dining, and waste. - Add a sustainability officer position to your executive board.
- Implement sustainable practices at events.
