As the UMD campus shifts into Spring Finals mode, the UMD Office of Sustainability encourages you to take a break to think about some different kinds of tests.  Nothing too challenging here - just three fun ways to become more knowledgeable about the resources we consume: 

Question #1.  What is the REAL cost of your commute?   This is a easy-to-use calculator from Stanford university.  It takes about 2 minutes to assess what you are paying to drive that car every day to school or work.  If you purchase a UMD parking permit, use these rough estimates of parking permit fees in the calculator:
Maroon permit $140.00 = $0.53 per day

Gold is $350= $1.35/day

Designated Reserve is $450 = $1.73 per day

The Stanford Commute Cost calculator is located here:  http://transportation.stanford.edu/alt_transportation/calculator.shtml

Hint:  Try reducing the number of days you commute per month (ex: working a 4-day shift instead of 5 days, or riding the bus even 1-2 times per week!)

Question #2.  What is the REAL cost of your "bottled water habit".   This short quiz takes  2 minutes, and really gets you to think about how much water and energy is wasted by purchasing bottled water.  http://www.newdream.org/water/calculator.php

Question #3.  What is your carbon footprint?  Individually, our choices on where we live, how we get around, and what we purchase may seem small, but they all add up to make a large impact.  Pick at least one of these calculators, and find out the size of your footprint - along with some simple ways to reduce it:

Nature Conservancy's Carbon Footprint Calculator  (estimates how many tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases your choices create each year)

World Wildlife Fund's Footprint Calculator (includes 4 categories: food, travel, home, and stuff)

Calculate Your Impact: (whether or not you've seen the movie, this quiz from The Inconvenient Truth will compares your carbon footprint to the national average)