This year’s theme, “Together We Can Make a Difference,” should get those wheels turning — with so many college organizations, and colleges and universities themselves, taking steps towards sustainability, there are many great stories that need to get told.

Official rules are available at the contest site.  The catch — the deadline for submissions is coming up pretty quickly: December 31 (sorry… just found out about this last week).

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In short, she blew away the goals and mindset I had back in my twenty-something days, when the only “green” in my world came out of an ATM machine. And frankly, as I’ve been off the mainstream career path for nearly two decades now, I don’t typically have seniors knocking on my e-mail door for advice. So I felt compelled to launch a dash of the unconventional her way — a dose of out-of-the-box career advice for someone heading down ecopreneurial career paths at a young age. Here’s what I sent to her:

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• Walk. Almost all college campuses are designed to be walker-friendly. This might be the easiest time to get rid of your car. However, if being completely car-free isn’t an option, park it and leave it. Campus parking is notoriously frustrating, and keeping your car parked in a lot is a lot easier than futilely circling said lot. Use your feet, a bike, or campus transportation to get from your dorm to class to the library. If your school is in a larger city, most public transit systems offer student discounts on monthly, semester-long, or yearly passes.
• Eat greener. Dining halls have come a long way. Now, they’re catering to student demands, and the variety of food choices is endless. Choosing a diet based in whole-grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean proteins from plants sources, such as beans and nuts, will not only reduce your carbon footprint, but will help fight off the dreaded freshman 15. Many dining halls are getting with the program and offering a wider-variety of meat-free entrees, and partnering with local farms to offer organic and local produce. If yours doesn’t, take advantage of those student dining surveys to express a preference for local, organic, and fair-trade food choices.
• Choose green cleaning products. Hopefully, most college kids helped out around the house at home, but those same kids probably didn’t have a lot of input as to the cleaning products they used. When cleaning in their dorms, whether it be the bathroom, their room, or their laundry, choosing biodegradable cleaning products keeps petroleum use to a minimum and minimizes toxins in their environment. Check out products from Mrs. Meyer’s, Method, Seventh Generation, or make your own.
• Recycle. With the push in the higher-ed community to go green, recycling may be more convenient on college campuses than it is in the general community. "Trash rooms" in dorms, where students dispose of their garbage, almost always have recycling bins for cardboard, plastic, glass, cans, and paper. Furnishing a dorm room with two separate receptacles, one for trash and one for recyclables, makes disposal a breeze.
• Reuse. College students are notorious for tossing away perfectly good stuff. Ever driven by dorms and off-campus housing at the end of the semester? You’ll find furniture, lamps, and appliances that students just don’t want to move. Consider used items when looking for college gear. Check out Gigoit, Craigslist, or Freecycle for free-to-dirt-cheap dorm room essentials. Conversely, use those same networking sites if you absolutely, positively, have to get rid of your old futon. Keeping functional items in use by someone keeps them out of the landfill. The same goes for clothes. One of my favorite thrift spots is located near a college where seemingly-affluent young women sell their perfectly good jeans–at a fraction of what it would cost me retail.

Students make big changes when they take the step from high school to college. That makes this transition the perfect time to take small steps for a greener life.