Learning in college is not limited to sitting in class and reading your textbooks. It’s also a time to learn about how to live on limited finances.

One of the best ways to save money is to live green. Here are some tips from Iowa State’s Office of Sustainability. For more tips, visit www.livegreen.iastate.edu.

• Shop locally

• Walk, ride your bike or ride CyRide

• Unplug electronics when you’re not using them

• Do full loads of dishes and laundry

• Turn down the heat or air conditioning when you’re not home or get a programmable thermostat

• Use reusable bags when shopping

• Use CFL lightbulbs

• Use your own water bottle or coffee mug

• Consider whether or not something can be reused or recycled before throwing it away

The city of Ames has what it calls Smart Trash, which turns waste into energy.

There is a waste-to-energy facility at the Arnold O. Chantland Resource Recovery Plant here in Ames.

The trash from Ames residents is taken to the plant. At the plant, the metal is taken out with magnet and sold to a scrap dealer. The rest of the waste is shredded and sorted into what is burnable and nonburnable. The burnable materials are then incinerated and used as refuse-derived fuel, which is piped into the city’s power plant. The city does this because sulfur dioxide emissions are decreased when this kind of fuel is used as supplemental fuel in coal burners. The nonburnable waste is taken to a landfill, but it takes up less space since it’s shredded.

For more information or to ask any questions, visit www.cityofames.org or call the plant at 515-239-5137.