Transportation is now the largest source of carbon emissions in the United States. How can students prevent contributing to this source of environmental pollution?

• Electric Vehicles

• Public Transportation

• Carpooling with friends or family

• Eco-friendly driving techniques (reduced time idling, refraining from hard acceleration/braking to conserve fuel waste)

• Biking or Walking

Buying food from local farmers keeps your meals closer to home, supports small producers, and cuts down on the environmental costs of industrial food systems. It’s an easy shift that makes a big difference in how food is grown, transported, and valued.

• Reduces emissions – food travels fewer miles compared to supermarket supply chains

• Supports local economies – money goes directly to farmers and nearby communities

• Encourages seasonal eating – fresher produce with less processing and packaging

• Builds connection – helps you understand where your food comes from and who grows it

Maintaining Your Belongings

Zach Sanderson

Taking a little time to care for your stuff keeps it alive longer, saves money, and reduces waste. It works for anything, from tools and sports equipment to electronics or everyday dorm items. It's a simple hack, but that's why it's so effective. 

• Reduces waste - less items go straight into the trash

• Saves money - can keep your things working for longer

• Boosts performance - repaired and well-tuned gear performs better than worn-down gear

• Builds habits/skills - after you learn to fix it once, you can fix it again

Nightly Power Checks

Nate Walker

Description: A simple dorm routine aimed at reducing energy waste through accountability and nightly checks. 

Steps: 

1. Meet with your roommates and ensure you only use one power strip each. 

2. Set house rules regarding energy conservation: (ex: "all strips off by 10pm", "Only LED's and natural light while the suns up". )

3. Make a quick checklist that can be marked daily after the power check. Post It In plain sight In a common space. 

4. Build a rotating schedule for nightly power checks.

Roles: 

• Checker - rotates nightly 

• Backup - If scheduled checker is unavailable, they are swapped with next person on rotation 

Actions: 

• At 9:55 PM the backup reminds the checker to complete his sweep In 5 minutes. 

• At 10pm the checker begins his sweep, ensuring all lights, chargers, and devices in common areas are off and unplugged. 

• After completing the sweep, the checker reminds their roommates to turn off power strips. 

• The checker then marks the checklist, indicating that the process is complete for the night. 

Resources:

• One power strip per roommate

• LED bulbs 

• Tape for labels (optional)

• Paper for checklist

Community Benefit: 

Implementing a structured daily routine builds accountability and develops awareness in a community. In a setting like a campus, even minor lifestyle changes can scale rapidly if adopted by the community. This routine may seem unimportant, but it turns an abstract concept like sustainability into something digestible and achievable for a college student. By building and reinforcing this habit as a student, you will naturally heighten your awareness and responsibility around energy usage. 

1. Helps reuse already-made resources and turn them into various things

2. Keeps objects out of landfills and the animals safe

3. Through reusing materials, we are not wasting resources by using them constantly for the same purpose 

What are ways a student can reduce their light usage?

1.  Outdoor lighting policy in Maine (Kyen)

The Lighting policy caps public outdoor lighting at 125% IES recommended light levels to help reduce light pollution. 

2. Potential Outdoor LED light color change (Kyen) 

A student whom I sent my google form to said that we could limit light usage but a better way would be to change the type of light color instead maybe to red or a dark blue or purple.

3. Maine Dark Sky Sanctuary

The Dark Sky Sanctuary is a non-profit organization that is trying to preserve dark skies in Maine. One way they say that could help reduce light pollution is by  using lamp shaded lights.

4. Major Electrical usages on a college campus

A large majority of people that answered my google form agreed that lights and water are probably what's used the most on campus. To help avoid major usages you could turn lights off when you leave a room,  use less bright lights, or spend less time indoors.

5. Use less screens

By using less screens especially if you use devices outside. The possible light pollution in the sky can be reduced slightly even though its a slight reduction, it still helps.

(Kyen)

Umaine Orono Community cupboard (Food Drive) no web page, only email

Maine Day Meal Packout for Hungry Mainers (mobile bake sale)

New Class: INT 125 Living Walls and Building Community 

I chose these resources because they have a decent bit to build off of, as the student led choices could be interesting to reach out to the people running them. The new course INT 125 seems very interesting, and quite spot on for what the assignment is asking us to find.

1. UMaine Counseling Center

The counseling center on campus is a completely free resource available to all UMaine students. 

2. Campus Trails

Getting outside is one of the best ways to improve mental well-being, according to the American Psychological Association. The UMaine campus offers over 15 miles of trails, with trails perfect for walks, runs, and everything in between.

3. Student Wellness (SWell)

SWell offers many resources aimed at improving mental health, such as Title IX support, substance use/abuse counseling and education, and more.

Michael Hardy

1. Reusable Water Bottles

2. Reusable Bags

Spaces like the Hackerspace, in the Memorial Union, make repair approachable by providing shared tools, guidance, and a supportive environment for students to fix, modify, and reuse items instead of replacing them.

• Reduces waste – fewer electronics, tools, and dorm items end up in landfills

• Saves money – repairing costs far less than buying new

• Conserves resources – lowers demand for raw material extraction and energy use

• Builds skills & community – repair becomes social, collaborative, and empowering

1. GoGo Refill (Maine)

• A refill shop in South Portland that helps people reduce waste by reusing containers and choosing eco-friendly products.

2. FarmDrop Maine

• A local food network connecting farmers with communities to promote sustainable, low-waste food systems.

3. Eco Watch

• An environmental news platform sharing articles about climate action, clean energy, and conservation.

4. The Good Trade

• A digital lifestyle magazine featuring ethical shopping, wellness, and practical sustainability guides.

5. Sustainable Maine Project (UMaine)

• The University of Maine program focused on community-based sustainability education and research.

-Emmanuelle Lenge

Orono Community Giving Garden 

This consists of volunteers who come together to grow free food for the community.

Terrell House Permaculture Living & Learning Center 

On-site food production and preservation.

Orono Land Trust 

Conserves and protects the local ecosystem.

Jack Johnson

Donate unwanted clothes to a program that washes and thrifts them for a discounted price for other students/ locals to purchase. 

The money made would go to pay employees who help support the program.

Marion Martin

Challenge yourself to one year of not buying any new clothing that is not deemed completely necessary. A minimalist lifestyle could surprise you in the long run with saving money and not contributing to landfills.