Eco-House

Nicknamed the "Rainbow House," this is the first environmental living community on campus.  They model the way individuals can make a difference by decreasing their carbon footprint in their daily lives. They have an advisory board that not only advises, but keeps them accountable for their commitment to living a green lifestyle.  Here are some of their initiatives:

Laundry:

By washing their clothes in cold water instead of hot, the rainbow decreases the amount of energy used by around 90%.  They also hang their clothes outside when possible. 

Composting:

With the help of Professor Roy Ketchum, the eco house started vermiculture composting.  The worms eat their scraps and convert it into compost.  This decreases waste sent to the landfill and enriches the soil.

Awareness:

As a house, they try to model the way and reach out to students to create a sense of awareness.  Two of the residents created a water bottle display, demonstrating how many water bottles CSB/SJU goes through in 4 hours.  They also put up educational signs to inform students about what percentage of bottles are recycled (5%).

Conservation:

Some of the most effective things are the easiest.  They turn off their lights when they aren't in use, use a programmable thermostat to turn down their heat at night in the winter, put up plastic on the windows, and take short showers.