Life as a collegiette is busy busy busy, so making strong efforts to be environmentally conscious may not be on your top list of priorities. Many people believe it’s too much time, work, or money and not worth the effort, so why bother trying if it really doesn’t make a difference?  However, each person’s efforts really can make a difference, and if everybody made the effort it could change the world for the better. Being environmentally friendly is much easier than one might expect. Here are seven ways you can be “enviro-friendly” today:
1. Â Recycling
It is very easy to start recycling – take a garbage bag, bin, or any other type garbage container, but designate it specifically for recyclables. Then, when you’re ready, you can dispose of the recyclables in your university’s designated recycling spot. It’s easy, quick, and can save you multiple trips to the recycling bin.
Fun fact: Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power and run your T.V. for three hours!
2. Â Toilet Paper Tubes
Every year, more than 17 billion toilet paper tubes are thrown away in the United States alone. That’s enough to fill the Empire State Building – twice.  And that’s just in the United States. Imagine how many toilet paper tubes are thrown away world-wide every year. In order to eliminate this monstrous amount of waste, some companies, such as Scott, have created toilet paper without the tube. These products eliminate much of that waste in an affordable way without sacrificing the quality of the toilet paper. Â
3. K-Cups and coffee
With Keurigs becoming more popular than regular coffee pots, the amount of K-Cups being used is also increasing. While individual components of the K-Cup are recyclable, as a whole they are not. Generally, they do not degrade quickly, and millions end up in landfills each year. Instead of buying the K-Cups with coffee already in them, try instead the empty ones that you can fill your own coffee in. Not only will it eliminate the number of K-Cups being thrown away, buying one large container of coffee will save you a lot more money in the long run.
4. Water bottles vs. Water filters
More than 24 billion plastic bottles are thrown away each year. Not only do plastic water bottles fill up our landfills, but the plastic bottles have been found to contain chemicals that can affect the hormones in the body. There’s a simple solution that is friendlier to both the environment and your body. Buying a Brita water filter is an easy way to keep water readily available while eliminating waste and chemicals. Buying the filter is a one-time cost, whereas continuously buying bottles over time will really add up.
5. Turn off and unplug
The amount of energy Americans use doubles nearly every 20 years. Most sources of energy, such as coal and natural gas can’t be replaced once they’re gone.  Now more than ever it’s important to conserve energy in order to preserve it. This is perhaps one of the easiest ways you can help our environment. Whenever you leave a room, the house, or anywhere else, turn off the lights, or unplug your electronics. This will eliminate the amount of energy being use, and help preserve it overall.
While many of these suggestions may not seem like much, they really will really add up in the long run. We only have one earth, and with these suggestions we can do our part to take care of it!