In today’s world, many people are concerned about being environmentally sustainable. A lot of attention is paid to recycling and buying natural products, but there are other things you can do to reduce your environmental impact.
According to Earth.org, the atmospheric CO2 levels reached the highest level in over 4 million years in 2021. One way to be more eco-friendly is by developing good habits as a college student that will continue even after graduation. Here are some ways your daily routine can help keep our world healthy and clean.
Maximize Your Resources
As a college student, you have limited resources: time and money. You can use these resources to your advantage by maximizing what you have. When you are shopping for groceries, choose products that are made from recycled materials, or those that will be recycled after the product’s useful life is over.
This way, you are using less energy to produce new goods and contributing less waste to landfills or incinerators.
When making purchases for school, look for ways to get more out of your money by buying used books rather than new ones and borrowing textbooks instead of purchasing them outright.
These actions will help reduce unnecessary consumption by keeping more items out of landfills each year and saving students money. If you want to know how to contribute to a greener planet, explore tips for college students trying to recycle.
Participate in Campus Recycling Programs
According to World Economic Forum, only 5% to 6%, or about two million tons of 40 million tons of plastic waste generated in the US in 2021, was recycled. One of the easiest ways to reduce waste on campus is by participating in recycling programs. These programs take place regularly and include many types of recyclable materials, such as paper products and plastic.
If you want to get involved with your college’s recycling programs, ask someone who works for Student Life or Environmental Affairs about how best. They’ll be able to tell you what happens after all those used items are picked up from around campus.
Usually, they are taken away by trucks from Waste Management Inc., which transports them off-site somewhere where workers can process them before being sold back to consumers as new products. Getting involved with these sorts of things will ensure that people see others being conscious about their impact on Earth’s natural resources and themselves.
Use Sustainable Transportation
To be environmentally friendly, one of the best things you can do is use sustainable transportation. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation accounts for 27% of carbon emissions, more than any other sector in the US. It’s a fact that riding a bike or walking to campus will help reduce your carbon footprint and be better for your health as well.
If you have to drive, consider driving a hybrid or electric car, which will save money on gas and reduce emissions. When choosing a school, look at how close it is to public transport or whether there’s any type of bicycle rental service available nearby that could help you avoid using your vehicle if possible.
Monitor Your Energy and Water Use
Monitoring your energy and water use is the best way to keep tabs on how much of each resource you consume. You can use a water meter to monitor your water use, or if you have a college dorm room, there may be one in your building.
To track electricity usage, install a power meter on your outlet and plug the device you want to monitor into the outlet with the power meter attached. The power meter will tell you how much energy is being used by that device over time and estimate how many dollars were spent for that amount of electricity usage.
Once those two things are done, it’s time to do some research. There are several ways to determine how much carbon dioxide was emitted during those activities. An excellent place to start would be at Carbon Footprint Calculator, which breaks down everything into easy-to-understand terms to keep everyone familiar with this kind of thing manageable.
Sustainable Fashion: Create a Capsule Closet and Shop Second-Hand
The first step in creating your sustainable wardrobe is to create a capsule closet. A capsule wardrobe comprises a small number of versatile, interchangeable items that can be mixed and matched to create numerous outfits. By having fewer clothes, you can spend more time on quality over quantity while saving money and space in your wardrobe.
If you want an even more eco-friendly option for your clothing purchases, shop second-hand instead. Not only will it save you money but buying second-hand means less waste being produced in the manufacturing process. You’ll also likely find nicer items since people who donate their clothes tend not to care about them as much as those who bought them new from the store. Perfect if you’re looking for something with some character.
Buy Used Books or Go Digital
Yet another habit to adopt is buying used books or going digital. When you buy a new book, it usually comes with excessive packaging and the materials it takes to ship the book from the publisher to your local bookstore. It creates unnecessary waste that can end up in landfills when you’re done with your reading material.
If you want to try something different, consider borrowing a used textbook from someone else instead of purchasing one new off-the-shelf at full price. Most college campuses facilitate this kind of resource sharing between peers by offering an online tool where students can list what they own and what they would be willing to loan out within their community.
Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of environmental problems, but making small changes can make a big difference. For example, you might think that reducing your carbon footprint by biking or walking everywhere is only a little.
However, if you live in an urban area without public transportation options and have a long commute to school or work every day, switching from driving your car to riding a bike could reduce your contribution to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
The same goes for other areas where we’re less likely to think about our impact, like switching from plastic bags at the grocery store, which can have an immediate positive effect on how we use resources around us. It may seem like such small actions won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, but if everyone refuses plastic bags or takes public transportation instead of driving their cars daily, those little changes add up quickly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it’s important to remember that being environmentally conscious is more than just a one-size-fits-all solution. We all have different priorities and lifestyles, but there are simple ways to be more sustainable. Developing these habits will make it easier for you to live sustainably when you head off to college.