| Tip | Summary | Posted on | |
| Eat slow food. | At Thanksgiving, most people sit down with their families and eat seasonal food they’ve cooked from scratch. | 11/23/09 | Read » |
| Serve and drink bulk water at events. | Water—it’s the healthiest, most thirst-quenching drink on Earth. If you’re putting on an event or participating in one, water is an excellent choice. It’s important to consider how that water is packaged. | 11/16/09 | Read » |
| Clean with baking soda | Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is an extremely versatile substance with a very low environmental impact. | 11/09/09 | Read » |
| Improve indoor air quality with house plants | You can improve the quality of the air you breathe in your home or office by keeping a few plants around. | 11/02/09 | Read » |
| Think about plastic bags | Reduce, reuse, recycle. | 10/26/09 | Read » |
| Know your plastics | Almost every plastic container has a numbered recycling symbol stamped on the bottom. Unfortunately, this symbol doesn’t necessarily mean the container is recyclable. | 10/19/09 | Read » |
| Turn your used paper into notepads | Do you have extra office paper that’s printed on just one side? | 10/12/09 | Read » |
| Beware clamshells! | A lot of food comes in plastic or Styrofoam “clamshells” like the ones pictured below. Avoid these containers! | 10/05/09 | Read » |
| Clean up the Green River | Join the annual work bee! | 09/28/09 | Read » |
| Take the 10% Challenge | Reduce your energy consumption by 10% | 09/21/09 | Read » |
| Recycle on campus | Don't throw your recyclables in the garbage bin! | 09/14/09 | Read » |
| Use more vinegar. | You may remember a tip last semester about using distilled white vinegar as a non-toxic cleaning agent. Many people responded with vinegar tips of their own. | 05/11/09 | Read » |
| Get an energy audit. | If you are a customer of WMECO, National Grid or Berkshire Gas, you could save 75% of the cost to insulate or seal your home. | 05/04/09 | Read » |
| Buy green at the GCC bookstore | Our bookstore has always carried many local, recycled, and eco-friendly products. Over the past year, buyer Alecia Bardwell has made a special effort to increase the amount of environmentally preferable stock she carries.
| 04/27/09 | Read » |
| Keep your tires properly inflated. | Art’s Tire will be running a tire pressure clinic at GCC Wednesday, April 22, 11am-1pm, Lot A. Get your tire pressure checked and adjusted free of charge! | 04/20/09 | Read » |
| Bike to GCC | Bike to GCC. Biking is THE most energy efficient form of transportation. Spring is here! This is a good time to think about when you can bike instead of driving. | 04/13/09 | Read » |
| Print using EcoFont | A Dutch company, SPRANQ, has developed a new font that uses up to 20% less ink than conventional fonts. | 04/06/09 | Read » |
| Recycle your Brita water filters | Water filters have less negative environmental impact than bottled water, but if you use one, you know you have to throw out your old filter periodically and replace it with a new one. | 03/30/09 | Read » |
| Save water when you wash your car | At this time of year, most of our cars are carrying around a heavy layer of dirt and salt. Washing your car not only makes it look better, it makes it last longer. If you pass an automated carwash in your travels (and don’t have to make a special trip), going there saves water over washing at home. | 03/23/09 | Read » |
| Launder with hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach | Chlorine bleach is a solution of approximately 3-6% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). Sodium hypochlorate produces highly toxic gases when it comes in contact with ammonia or with different forms of acid. | 03/09/09 | Read » |
| Teach kids to recycle | Good habits that start early can last a lifetime. You probably already recycle at home. If you have a child in school, find out if they recycle paper, bottles, and cans in the classroom and the cafeteria. If your child’s school throws everything away, suggest recycling to the teacher, the cafeteria staff, or the principal. | 03/02/09 | Read » |
| Carpool | Could you share driving to and from GCC with someone else? Carpooling is an excellent way to reduce the negative environmental impact of cars on the road. | 02/23/09 | Read » |
| Save gas | Even if you can’t switch to biodiesel or a hybrid, you can drive more efficiently in the car you have. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ official website has eight suggestions for saving gas by improving your driving habits. | 02/16/09 | Read » |
| Wrap responsibly | The holidays bring cheer and lots of gifts. There are many ways to make the holidays greener; a good first step is changing the way you wrap. | 12/15/08 | Read » |
| Re-use packing materials | If you receive a package at GCC, don’t throw out the packing materials. Take Styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, and air pillows down to John Murphy in the mail room (N116), and he will re-use them. | 12/01/08 | Read » |
| Speak up | Why do restaurants use Styrofoam take-out containers instead of recyclable aluminum or compostable cardboard? Why does hand lotion come in bottles that don’t let you get out the last three ounces? | 11/24/08 | Read » |
| Clean with vinegar | Vinegar works well as a natural cleaning agent because it contains about 5% acetic acid. | 11/17/08 | Read » |
| Vote | Be an informed voter. Our elected representatives have the power to make a huge impact—positive or negative—on the environment. | 10/26/08 | Read » |
| Idle less | The next time you find yourself waiting in your car, turn off the engine. | 10/20/08 | Read » |
| Get less junk mail | At this time of year, mail-order catalogs start piling up in our mailboxes. You can cut down on the number of catalogs and other unwanted mailings you receive by following some easy steps. | 10/13/08 | Read » |
| Provide opportunities to recycle. | Have you ever been in this situation? You’re at a catered event, and the buffet table offers all kinds of food and your choice of delicious beverages. You finish eating and look for a place to recycle your bottle or can, but find none. | 09/29/08 | Read » |
| Compost | Collect non-meat food scraps in a container and put them outside in a bin or a pile to decompose. | 05/05/08 | Read » |
