No tags yet.
How To Be An Eco-Friendly College Student
The world is not looking great, so any little thing you can do can help a lot! And being eco-friendly at college, especially if everyone is, can help save the Earth a little bit at a time. I know I wanna keep living here and I want my kids after me to enjoy their time too. With just a little time, care and love.
1: Dine In More Than Dining Out
This applies to multiple things. If you have your own kitchen, try to cook more at home. This uses less takeout containers and can also be healthier for you (and most of the time cheaper than meal plans). It can also eliminate the use of plastic one-time use straws at most restaurants. If you don't have a kitchen and have a meal plan, try to dine in at the dining halls more than you take out. Yes, the take out containers at many colleges are made from recycled material, but you can't recycle them again, especially when food has been in it. Dining in uses dishes that are washable and not so many take out containers. Plus, this is an excuse to plan meals with friends!
(Also, please only put the amount you think you'll eat on your plate. So much food is wasted at college dining halls)
2: Never Use Plastic Straws
They take over 100 years to decompose just ONE. Buy a metal or bamboo or reusable, washable straw, if you can't go without one. It's a pretty easy habit to break as long as you stick with it. And if you dine out, ask for no plastic straw. Some waiters will praise you for it, some may hate the hassle, but you gotta stick with it to make a big difference.
It's also something easy everyone can do to help the environment.
3: Use A Reusable Water Bottle
Again if you buy bottled water, the plastic from the water bottle takes forever to decompose. Also, it's WAY cheaper to buy one reusable water bottle and a Brita filter and pitcher. The water bottle I have was about $7 at Target and has lasted me over two years. My Brita has also lasted over two years with only needing to buy a new filter three times.
It saves money and the environment!
4: Use Cloth Bags For Groceries
Every college kid has to go grocery shopping at least once or twice. Instead of using the plastic bags at the store, bring your own reusable cloth bag. It holds more stuff and helps the environment.
If you do happen to forget your cloth bag and you have to use a plastic one, save it and reuse it for trash bags in your dorm. I have not bought trash bags once because I just reuse plastic bags. While I am using plastic bags, I am REUSING them which is a key part in the slogan: reduce, reuse, recycle. I try to reduce the amount I get, but when I happen to get one, I always reuse it.
5: Recycle All Your Old Papers
At the end of the semester, you have accumulated a lot of papers. I promise you, you won't need all of them going forward. Take the ones you want to keep and then recycle the rest of them! NEVER just throw them away. Colleges still use a lot of paper, even in the digital age, so trying to recycle or reuse them can help a lot.
6: Use Your Laptop
Before you even use paper, try to use your laptop instead. As I said before, reduce is first in the slogan for a reason! If you need to take notes in class and the professor allows laptops, try to use it! Of course, use your laptop for writing papers and research, etc. so you don't have to waste paper on it.
Furthermore, try to reduce the amount of stuff you print. Print two-sided as much as possible! If a professor says you must have a print out of the readings for every class, see if you can use your phone or laptop. They may say no, but it's worth a try. I did for one class because I didn't want to print out the readings or bring my enormous textbook, so I took pictures with my phone and used it to read along in class. It's always worth asking!
7: Keep The Campus Clean
This not only helps your campus look nice (which you should take a bit of pride in the place you're living for the next four years) but it also saves any small critters that may be living on campus with you. There are a ton of squirrels on my campus and I would hate for them to die or get sick because someone couldn't throw their trash away (especially since the trash cans on campus are super expensive. Use them!!).
Please, please do this if your campus is near a beach. So many ocean life creatures suffer from littering and pollution and you shouldn't add to it. Try to take away from it. Clean up trash if you see it, even if it's not yours! It makes things look nicer and helps the environment and animals.
8: Download This App
The app called "Forest" is available in the App store for purchase. It's only $2 and it's for a great cause: it helps you and the environment.
The app has you plant a "tree" but the only way the tree can be planted is if you stay focused and don't use your phone for the amount of time that you set it for. You can plant a lot of trees in a day or in a row and you will collect coins, depending on how long you were focused. When you reach a certain amount of coins, you can use them to plant a real tree and help the Earth!
There are also special events, like on Earth Day, where you could plant a real tree if you and other people with the app stayed focus for a short time, like 10-20 minutes.
It's a small thing to do, but it's fun and helps the Earth a little bit at a time.
Try to use these tips yourself and have your friends join the effort as well to help the Earth stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible!
Happy Living!