About Colgate

Green Living Program

Welcome to the Green Living Program and thank you for joining your fellow students in helping Colgate become a more sustainable campus. This website will provide information and resources to help you and your living area become a "Green Certified Living Space".

While Colgate University has committed to climate neutrality through numerous broad reaching initiatives, the individual Raider is equally responsible for reducing his/her environmental impact through daily habit changes that have a great potential for positive impact. The Green Living Program is a student behavioral change program that was developed to educate and engage residents in shifting their priorities and behaviors to reduce the unnecessary consumption of resources (energy, water) to minimize waste generation (through recycling and reuse) and to take greater responsibility for their contribution to University-related environmental impacts. The Green Living Program strives to provide support, resources and information to aid students in their pursuit to be more sustainable and to save financial resources through resource conservation and efficiency.

The ultimate goal is for Colgate to reach its commitment to climate neutrality by reducing our overall and individual ecological footprints associated with the behavior of our daily lives.

Why join the Green Living Program?

It is an ideal way to:

• Generate excitement and significantly raise awareness around issues of sustainability in your dorm environment and daily life;
• Provide motivated students with the resources and tools to implement sustainability practices. It is an individual based do-it-yourself program;
• Utilize peer-to-peer social marketing skills to foster sustainable behavior;
• Save money and resources through resource conservation and efficiency

 Ready to join? Follow these steps:

1. Click here to view our Green Living Orientation Presentation (5-7 minutes)
2. Click here to register yourself for the Green Living Program
3. Wait for an e-mail invite from your Eco-Rep
4. Complete the Green Living Practices Checklist ( sent to you by your Eco-Rep)
5. Need help completing the checklist? Click here to view our Checklist Tutorial.

Helpful information Sheets

Using compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)

Automatically or manually set your computer to save energy

Using smart strips

Decrease your margins

Print Double Sided

Understand your impacts