While the current crisis has thrown off the college living in many ways, there are still various emotions and questions about heading off to college, especially for incoming first-year students. You might have a list of items that the school sends you with ideas of what to bring. Of course, there are visible items such as towels, toiletries, clothing, and school supplies. However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t wonder what you can do to live a bit more green.
Living sustainably is not something you simply decide to do for a while or part of your day. It’s a lifestyle. It helps you reduce your carbon footprint so you can do everything to leave earth in better condition for future generations. It is no surprise that many college students feel that living this way is a daunting task and, therefore, they cease trying. It can become more complicated, especially living in the dorms. But this doesn’t mean that you should give up. This article will give you the best chance of living sustainably in college, whether you’re by yourself or sharing a house with other people.
Walking will not only help you live more sustainably, but it is also good for your health. Photo Credit: LightField Studios/Shutterstock
Walk as Much as You Can
Walking is not only good for your health, but it’s also useful for sustainable living. While you might think that most college students walk from one class to another, it’s always possible that you can take a bus or drive because you feel you will get to your next class faster – especially if you go to a more massive campus.
However, using a vehicle isn’t good for the environment. It’s better than if you can’t get to your class on time by walking, you should use a bicycle, skateboard, or rollerblades. It will help you live more sustainably and keep you healthy and save on your dollar bills.
One advantage of taking your notes electronically is that you don’t need to skim your notebooks for information, as you can effortlessly search on Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Photo Credit: Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock
Take Your Notes Electronically
You have seen many movies and television shows where students are busy writing down their notes on paper. While some turn to computers, many seem to feel that they need paper and writing utensils; otherwise, they don’t fully get the college experience. The truth is that no matter how you take your notes, you’ll gain the knowledge and understanding to build your sustainable living and look to your laptop or iPad to take your notes.
This method will help you save money when it comes to buying school supplies as you won’t need to spend your dollars on paper, but you will also stop wasting paper. Think of it this way – what will you do with the notes when you’re done with a class? Throw them away? Instead, you can simply delete them from your device.
If your university doesn’t have bins for recycling, you can always find a way to incorporate this technique so more students and faculty on campus can live more sustainably. Photo Credit: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
Don’t Forget to Recycle
Fortunately, recycling is easier on many college campuses than you might think. Several have turned to make sure they have different bins where you can put your paper, cans, and glass. However, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be in an area with recycling bins. You might need to find some nearby or even create your own and find a place to bring them within your community.
Other ways to recycle are to donate your clothes or shop at a thrift store. It’s estimated that up to 60% of all clothing made within a year is thrown out. This notion means that all the energy and water used to make these items are wasted. By recycling your apparel, you can build your sustainable living during your college years.
Be active when it comes to sustainable living by joining the Green party or taking political action. Photo Credit: Suzanne Tucker/Shutterstock
Get Political
There are many tips that you can follow to live a most sustainable lifestyle. However, many people think that changing your behavior is enough because you should also get politically active. You can do this by joining political groups at the university or even in your community. You can also take part by joining specific strikes, such as the Fridays for Future climate strike.
You can take action to vote for a green politician or support the green party and participate in a global or national climate march. It’s also possible to join a massive act of civil disobedience, for example, Extinction Rebellion in the United Kingdom or Code Rood in the Netherlands.
Purchasing a reusable water bottle can help you say no to the disposable plastic bottle that can find itself littered on the ground or even in the oceans. Photo Credit: Lalandrew/Shutterstock
Buy a Reusable Water Bottle
One of the easiest ways that you can live more sustainably is by purchasing at least one reusable water bottle that you can take with you around the university. This change will help you save money because you won’t need to purchase plastic water bottles every day. At the same time, you can help keep the planet cleaner.
There are many ways to find reusable bottles. You can even design your own on certain websites. While hard plastic ones are great, you can also purchase stainless steel as they tend to last a bit longer and keep your water colder for a more extended period.
If you don’t want to use straws at all or don’t have a reusable straw with you, think about drinking straight from the cup. Photo Credit: Bogdan Sonjachnyj/Shutterstock
Stop Using Plastic Straws
Instead of asking for plastic straws at a local restaurant or buying them to use at home, you can look to purchase reusable straws. They’re just as easy to find, and you can easily use them at home or carry a few when you go to restaurants to use.
While it is a small problem in the big scheme of things, it’s essential to think of the more minor issues. Plastic straws can’t be recycled, so they are left to find their way into oceans or across the lands where they can hurt animals or marine life.
While you can recycle single-use plastic bags, it’s estimated that only 1 out of 200 will be recycled. Photo Credit: Vasiliy Ptitsyn/Shutterstock
Use Your Own Shopping Bags
Some stores have already started to go this route, but you can begin before a store requires you to use reusable shopping bags. All you need to do is purchase a couple of bags that you can bring with you to the stores for your items.
One of the biggest challenges, once you have your bags, is remembering them when you go shopping. One way to help you do this is by keeping them in your car. Once you’ve put your groceries and other items away, bring the bags back out to your vehicle. Another way is setting a reminder or placing the bags by the door, so you will have a better time remembering. You might also have roommates to help you remember.
It’s easy to keep appliances plugged in, but it’s better to unplug them so you can save on electricity. Photo Credit: CHUYKO SERGEY/Shutterstock
Unplug and Power Down Devices
There might be a lot of electronics and appliances that you use daily. It’s not just the computer or iPad that you should think about. Instead, you need to look at your television, toaster, microwave, and other appliances.
Unplugging your appliances when you’re not using them is the same as shutting off lights when you’re not in the room – it will save on electricity. Even when appliances aren’t in use, if they’re plugged in, they are connected to the outlet and still using energy, which can take some more money out of your pocketbook.
Going meatless for at least one day out of the week is more beneficial to the environment than you can imagine. Photo Credit: Alexandra Anschiz/Shutterstock
Go Meatless For a Day
If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you already have this tip covered. If you enjoy eating meat with nearly every meal, this tip might be harder for you than you think, but it can also help live you a more sustainable life.
The key is that if every United States citizen skipped one meal of meat every week and ate more vegetables, fruits, and grains instead it’s like taking over half a million cars off of U.S. roads in terms of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This idea means following meatless Mondays good for you, but it’s also good for the environment and can save you anywhere from $60 to $80 a month, more if you have a family to feed.
Social media accounts can help spread the word about sustainable living. Photo Credit: 13_Phunkod/Shutterstock
Share on Social Media
One of the best ways to get information to other people about recycling is through social media. Whether you have a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or another account (or all of them), you can use it to tell people to look at sustainable living.
You could give them pointers on how they can take steps to recycle in their life or even find sustainable success, such as second-hand stores and plastic-free supermarkets. You can join social media groups that are filled with like-minded people and share their posts on your page.
Buying items with less packaging can help you cut down on overall waste that lands in landfill and cause problems for the environment and animals. Photo Credit: FamVeld/Shutterstock
Note What You’re Buying at the Grocery Store
You already know that bringing reusable bags can help save the planet because plastic bags take thousands of years to break down. They also tend to kill thousands of animals every year. But there is another step that you can take to improve your sustainable living, and that is to buy produce that has less packaging.
When you purchase items in less cardboard or plastic than other things, you are cutting down on the overall waste. Another way you can boost your sustainable living is by getting digital coupons instead of cutting them out.
Women – think of going green when it comes to your monthly cycle to cut down on waste. Photo Credit: Alina Kruk/Shutterstock
Go Green on Your Feminine Supplies
Most women don’t think much about this, but there is much waste when it comes to your menstrual cycle. While much of this can’t be helped, you can take a step in the more influential sustainable living column by knowing what products are the best to use during this time. For instance, between 11 to 30 tampons are used every cycle. It’s estimated that you will throw away 250 to 300 pounds of pads, plugs, and applicators within your lifetime.
You can start bringing this waste down by opting for reusable cotton pads instead of ones you dispose of. You can also switch to tampons that don’t have plastic applicators or try using menstrual cups.
Meal planning can help bring more ease into your week, help you eat healthier, and let the environment breathe better. Photo Credit: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock
Plan Your Meals
Who knew that taking time every week to plan your meals would be helpful to the environment? It will help because you’re less likely to purchase food that you won’t use or that will go bad before you can use it. Meal planning allows you to know exactly what you need to buy at the store because you know what you will make every week.
One reason this helps is that you will save food from waste and create CO2 in landfills. Another benefit is that you will save money and it also helps decrease the stress you feel because you don’t need to worry about what you’ll make for dinner after a busy day at work.
Buying only what you need can help you save money and improve the environment. Photo Credit: Eldar Nurkovic/Shutterstock
Turn to Borrow or Buy Less
You live in a consumer culture, which makes it easy to buy more items than you need. It’s easy to fall victim to know what you need and grab what you want when you’re in the stores – or shopping online. For instance, when searching for an item on Amazon, you might run into several other products that you don’t need but decide to buy because they’re cool or might come in handy.
Another challenge is knowing when to buy or rent. For example, the next time you want to see that new movie on DVD, you should look into renting it instead of buying it. The same goes for music; you can download the songs instead of buying all new CDs.
Your toothbrush might take years to decompose, depending on what type you get. Photo Credit: Africa Studio/Shutterstock
Think About Your Toothbrush
One way to help decrease the number of toothbrushes in the dump is to purchase a bamboo toothbrush instead of the plastic ones. Take a moment to think about this – it takes about 400 years for a toothbrush to decompose completely, and they haven’t been around that long. This number means that every toothbrush made is still lying around in some landfill, waiting to decompose completely. When you decide to choose the bamboo toothbrush, you will help cut down on plastic pollution.
While bamboo is usually more than the plastic ones you can buy, it’s worth choosing the more expensive to live sustainably. Plus, you can purchase a set of four of them for under $20 at Amazon.
Second-hand stores, sometimes called thrift stores and organic supermarkets, are great ways to purchase sustainable items. Photo Credit: View Apart/Shutterstock
Find Sustainable Shops
It seems like there are new stores to visit every day, which only leads you to purchase more items than you need. However, it also creates a challenge of knowing when and where to shop to live a sustainable life. One way to help improve the environment is to know the best places to shop for sustainable shops.
While some cities will have more of these types of shops than others, there are many places to look, such as second-hand stores, plastic-free supermarkets, repair cafes, vegan and vegetarian restaurants, local farmer’s markets, and organic supermarkets.
One of the best steps to decrease the amount of food you waste is to make smaller portions. Photo Credit: Shift Drive/Shutterstock
Don’t Waste Your Food
It happens to everyone – you make a meal for your family, and it seems that it’s barely touched. Your children aren’t hungry. You pack the food away in the fridge or freezer with the thought of making it later, but then realize you’ve waited too long, and you just need to toss the food out.
While it’s not always easy to only make enough food that people will eat in one sitting, you want to do everything you can to try. However, you can try to help ease the tons of food wasted every year by making smaller portions or setting a night where you will warm up the leftovers for your family.
When you choose LED lights, you can use their advantages to help save you money and make some areas darker and the other regions lighter. Photo Credit: Rasstock/Shutterstock
Purchase LED Light Bulbs
LED light bulbs are a newer phenomenon in the world, but they are also great energy savers. Many people have turned to LED lights not only because they can save a few dollars on their electric bill but also because they don’t have to change light bulbs as often as LEDs are known to last longer than regular bulbs.
Another great benefit is that these lights range when it comes to brightness. You can tailor your home according to how much light you want in a corner or the whole room. For instance, you might have your bedroom darker than your living room or kitchen.
You wouldn’t just throw away your home or car when they need repair, so why would you do that to other items that you can fix up? Photo Credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock
Fix Items Instead of Throwing Them
Sometimes items break by accident, and other times it happens because they are old and worn out. While you can always fix what’s broken, you should always take the chance and look at it as a possibility. You might not be able to fix it yourself, but other people could help you, whether they’re friends, family, or professionals.
Fixing items instead of throwing them away will decrease the garbage in the waste dumps and help you save money because you won’t need to go out and buy a new one. If you’re not sure how to fix it, turn to Google as the Internet can help you learn how to repair most items.
The next time you’re running low on cleaning products, look to make natural cleaning products to boost the environment. Photo Credit: iva/Shutterstock
Turn to Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
One of the most significant factors that the current crisis helped produce for people worldwide is how to make eco-friendly cleaning products and hand sanitizer. There are usually harsh chemicals in the cleaning products. While alcohol won’t hurt the environment as much, you can help boost the world around you from creating an alcohol-free hand sanitizer.
There are dozens of recipes you can find online and make at home. All you need to do is ensure you can gather all the supplies at the store. They usually consist of some type of essential oils, which you can have your pick. For instance, if you want to make cleaning products that smell like lavender, you know which type of essential oil to choose.
Not only will the microwave help cook your meals faster, but it also helps preserve the environment around you. Photo Credit: Zyn Chakrapong/Shutterstock
Microwave Over Conventional Oven
You might not need a big push to follow this tip. You might already follow it and not realize that you’re living more sustainably, especially when you’re living in a college dorm room. After all, not all dorms have kitchens or large appliances like ovens that you can use.
You can make a lot of food in the microwave, including baked potatoes. The key is to ensure that you take all the safety measures and watch the meal, so it doesn’t explode or cause a big mess. Using the microwave over the oven can help you live more sustainably because it uses less energy than the oven.
Saying “no” to flying can help you preserve the environment because flying is the worst way to travel. Photo Credit: BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock
If You Don’t Have to Fly, Don’t Do It
While you probably think that you can’t fly for a while because of the current crisis, you always want to think of staying closer to home, so you don’t need to fly anywhere – even when the current crisis ends.
When you turn to the airplane, you’re damaging the environment worse than using your vehicle or taking a bus. Flying from Bristol to Edinburgh produces 0.15 metric tons of carbon. You might not think there are many sights to see close to home, but if you can take the bus, train, or car, you can see it. Therefore, enjoy your drive across the country.
You can turn gardening into a family event and get your children to help so they can learn how to live more sustainably. Photo Credit: Natalia Lebedinskaia/Shutterstock
Start a Big Garden
Even if you feel you don’t have much room to start a garden, you can find a small corner in your yard to get yourself a little start. Maybe you can start a community garden where people from your area will grow their food and share with other members of the community.
Gardens are a great way to eat healthily, save money, and cut down your carbon footprint and be eco-friendly. You can always invest in windowsill boxes if you don’t have a yard to help grow your garden.
Sources:
“5 Tips for Being a Sustainable College Student.” Lily Iler, Spoon University.
“The Ultimate 20 Step Guide to Eco-friendly Living.” Good Energy. August 2017.
“15 Tips for Green Living in College.” The Princeton Review.
“Green guide: 15 tips for a more sustainable lifestyle.” Green Office Movement.