Green Dorm Room
During the summer of 2010, prospective students on campus tours viewed a model Green Dorm Room that showed them how live in a sustainable way at Duke. The Green Dorm Room is a project of Sustainable Duke and three students from the Students for Sustainable Living program.
Funded by a $500 grant from the Duke STARS program, a group that allocates funding to sustainability-related projects at Duke University, the room in Few Quad was furbished with about 20 sustainable items purchased from Whole Foods Market, Target and Etsy.com, a website that sells sustainable goods made by artisans around the world.
According to results from Duke's Green Devil Challenge - a monthly effort to promote sustainable behavior at Duke - students at the University average about one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions annually from dorm room energy and water. That amount would need 36 Maple trees to remove from the air.
Biodegradable toiletries and cleaning products, and a power strip that automatically turns off electronics were some items featured in the room. A sign accompanied each product and explained what the item was and how it made the room more sustainable.
In true sustainable fashion, all items will be reused each summer as a highlight of Duke campus tours.
What's in the room?
- Organic sheets & pillows
- "Smart" power strip that turns off electronics
- Lamp made with recycled bottles
- Area rug made of recycled plastic
- Clothes drying rack
- Aluminum water bottle
- Biodegradable laundry detergent
- Reusable shopping bag
- Compact florescent light bulbs
- Bike helmet
- Chemical-free cosmetics
- Biodegradable cleaning supplies
- Wall art printed on recycled paper with soy inks
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