Students

5 Tips for a More Sustainable Student Life

By

Photo by Matese Fields on Unsplash

Photo : Matese Fields on Unsplash

It's never too early to start paying attention to how your actions impact the environment. If you're looking for ways to be more green without breaking the bank, here are some tips that can help make your routine more environmentally friendly on a student budget.

1 - Start to recycle

Making sure your trash is recycled is easier in some places than others. Even if your campus has specific trash cans for recyclables, that doesn't mean the university has a recycling program. The rules for what kind of trash does and doesn't count as recyclable also vary a lot from campus to campus.

In other words, if you want to make sure your trash is being recycled, you'll need to do some research. However, the potential rewards make it worth the effort. Recycling isn't just good for the environment; it also helps generate jobs in your local community.

2 - Mind your meat consumption

You don't need to become a vegetarian to reduce your impact on the environment. However, it is a good idea to mind what kind of animal protein you eat and where that is coming from.

As this guide on sustainable seafood highlights, there are a wide variety of low-carbon options when it comes to eating seafood, especially when you look for the MSC blue fish tick label.Tinned tuna is one example of a sustainable seafood choice which is budget-friendly compared with the increasing price of meat

As a general rule, beef production generates more CO2 than chicken, pork, or fish. However, local factors such as farming conditions or whether or not an overfishing is occurring are also worth considering.

Besides meat choice, another way to lower your impact is to reduce how often you eat meat in general. Consider going meat-free a few days a week.

3 - Avoid disposables

Single-use items like plastic cups, bags, bottles, and more are a big environmental problem. While plastic is theoretically recyclable, plastic recycling is seldom profitable, meaning that most plastic around the world ends up in landfills or the ocean.

You can do your part in reducing the plastic problem by avoiding single-use plastics. Small steps like bringing your own thermos to a coffee shop and using reusable bags when shopping can have a big impact.

4 - Reduce your power consumption

Electricity production is still a huge source of CO2 emissions around the world. As a result, it's a good idea to avoid wasting electricity as much as possible.

Smart steps to take include using energy-efficient lamps, reducing your use of air conditioners and heaters, and relying on renewable energy as possible. It's hard to install rooftop solar panels as a student, but you may be able to use a small solar power bank to charge your phone every so often.

5 - Buy used goods

Manufacturing new stuff produces a lot of CO2 every year, and one way to discourage companies from producing more items is to get more use out of the items we already have.

Clothes, shoes, computer parts, cellphones, and various other items can be bought used to help reduce your impact on the environment. As a bonus, used items are also cheaper than new ones.

© 2024 University Herald, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of universityherald.com
Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics