6 Ways Students Can Be More Environmentally-Friendly on Campus

College years are not only about studying and making friends, but also about taking responsibility, defending one’s interests, and making a difference.

Being a student, you can start living a more eco-friendly lifestyle and encourage everyone to follow your example. Do you want to act on climate change? Are you ready to take the first steps?

Here are six tips on how to go green while living on campus.

Stop using single-use plastic

Plastic bottles, straws, and grocery bags are one of the most common waste items in on-campus trash bins. If you want to be more environmentally-friendly, you should say “no” to these single-use plastic items, and buy reusable ones:

• Make it a habit to refill your reusable water bottle instead of buying water packed in plastic.
• Use cloth tote bags instead of plastic grocery bags.
• Stop using plastic forks, knives, and spoons at fast-food restaurants. Buy a set of wooden utensils for this purpose – they are lightweight and easy to clean, you will love using them.
• Don’t take plastic straws at cafes and restaurants – bring your own stainless steel straws or use no straws at all.
• If you are a coffee addict, get yourself a reusable coffee cup and bring it whenever you go. There are pocket-size coffee cups that fold into a disk shape – it’s so easy to carry them around.

These simple steps will help you to reduce your plastic footprint significantly.

Don’t hesitate to spend money on reusable items, even though some of these items seem to be pricy for you. One reusable glass water bottle or stainless still water bottle will replace 167 disposable water bottles per year. It means you will spend a little money upfront, but reusing the products over and over, you will save a lot of money in the long run.

Go digital

Today, almost every book and course materials are accessible online. So please, take advantage of it. Don’t print documents and files if there is no need. Don’t buy hard copies – use eBooks.

Claris Hearton, an eco-blogger and writer from SupremeDissertations and ClassyEssay, encourages students to go paperless: “Excessive paper waste on college campuses is an environmental problem, and its solution greatly depends on students. If all students get aware of the problem and go digital, the amounts of paper used will decrease by more than two times.”

Consider choosing a minimalist lifestyle

Let’s face it. We live in an era of consumerism. We tend to buy things just for the sake of it, not because we genuinely need them. And that’s a huge problem – we send tons of new and barely used items to landfills. Besides, our thoughtless purchases support the production and transportation of the goods, which means we contribute to CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the best ways to be more eco-friendly on campus is to choose a minimalist lifestyle. If you buy only the necessary things, you will cut your wastes and save lots of money.

Don’t buy a new dress or a new pair of jeans if you are going to wear them just once. Don’t buy a new ball pen if you already have three ball pens. Don’t buy a new trendy handbag if your old bag still looks good.

Well, it might be challenging for you to change your lifestyle at first. But in a few months, you will have new shopping habits, and everything will go smoothly.

Start blogging

Do you want to make a difference and contribute to environmental protection? Start blogging and share your eco-lifestyle journey with a wide audience. Show everyone that it’s not that difficult to establish green habits. Motivate people to join the environmental movement.

You can start a blog on platforms like WordPress, or can create a micro-blog on Instagram. It’s up to you. Just get your creative juices flowing and create content that is interesting to read and is worth sharing. Reveal your writing talent and win the attention of the readers who care about Mother Nature.

Choose presents for your college friends wisely

What do you typically gift to your friends? Do you wrap presents in a non-recyclable paper and use plastic ribbons?

Well, if you want to go green, you should revisit your approach to gift-giving. The next time you want to buy a birthday present for your college friend, ask yourself, “Are any eco-friendly gift alternatives I can choose?”

Think about gifting a terrarium (garden in the bottle) instead of fresh flowers. Consider reusing some materials, for instance, an old newspaper or piece of cloth, to wrap a present. Make these small changes to make a big difference.

Make the right choices

In real life, it’s almost impossible to live trash-free and adopt a zero-waste lifestyle. Even though companies are trying to reduce plastic use, most of the items still contain plastic or come in plastic packaging.

So, please, don’t get frustrated when starting your eco-friendly lifestyle journey. If you have a choice to buy a drink in a can or plastic bottle – choose a can. If you have options to buy spaghetti packed in a plastic or carton – pick a carton box. When choosing between T-shirts made of 100% natural materials and synthetic materials – select the first option.

BUT, if you don’t have such options, don’t get anxious about buying “not eco-friendly” products. Try to recycle as many items as possible, make mindful choices, and don’t worry about the rest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for you to focus on studying.

Wrapping it up

A sustainable campus is not just one of the most popular essay topics 2020; it’s a trend you should follow. No matter in which country you live and study, you can be an environmentally-friendly student.

Tweak your lifestyle. Embrace challenges. Go green and protect the planet.

BIO: Diana Adjadj is an environmental activist and blogger. Currently, she works as an editor for writing companies GrabMyEssay and TopEssayWriting. Also, she creates educational content for Subjecto, a study website.