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How to Get Renewable Energy Into Your Dorm Room
It's been quite some time since I lived in a dorm room, I admit -- over 15 years in fact (yikes!) -- and at the time, even though I was an Environmental Studies major, using renewable energy in my room was not really on my cultural radar.
But today is far different. Renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions are talked about all the time; and while you may not be able to install solar panels or sign up for green power at college, you can still make a difference.
You pretty much have two (and a half) options though: Portable solar power chargers for your laptop and electronic gadgets, and buying carbon offsets.
Solar Power For Your Gadgets
Even though there are some portable wind power generators out there, skip them and concentrate on portable solar power chargers for your electronics.
TreeHugger as covered a number of these before a number of times and is a good place to start to get a handle on what's out there: Solar Rolls from Brunton, portable solar power briefcases and backpacks from Voltaic, and the new, stylish Eneloop solar power charger from Sanyo are all worth investigating.
Human-Powered Gadget Chargers
Personally, I'd stick with solar power for my gadgets, but should you want to think outside the renewable energy box a little, there are some human-powered options out there -- The Yo-Yo power charger is designed for your iPhone or iPod specifically. If you don't mind using a little (a lot...) of elbow grease, there are hand-cranked chargers out there that'll do the job. No word on if this concept has actually gone into production, but if you fancy working on strengthening your grip while charging up your phone, check out this hand exercise iPod charger.
Buy Carbon Offsets For Your Electricity Use
You're probably familiar with carbon offsets for your flights, but most of the same people from whom you'd purchase these also sell offsets for your personal electricity use -- Sometimes these are for renewable energy projects, other times they are for other carbon sequestering projects. In any case, they're a good way to reduce the impact of your electricity use.
CarbonFund.org is one service which I reference a lot. They have offsets for your home either by preset amounts or by entering in your exact electric usage.
You'll have to tweak their system though: Since you're in a dorm room and never see an electric bill you're stuck with presets, and the smallest one of those is for an apartment (under 1000 sq ft). You're dorm room is undoubtedly much smaller than that, so the $50 is probably overkill. Based on their numbers, something like $25 is more like it, so adjust the numbers accordingly for a more appropriate offset.
There are other services out there to choose from, keep in mind, and a quick search will turn them up. Just make sure they're reputable.