We hear about it repeatedly, wherever we go. Newspapers have begun to sound like broken records, and that one intensely eco-friendly peer of yours is really starting to get on your nerves. The ice caps are melting, the ozone layer is thickening, and global warming is closing in on us. “The polar bears are dying,” you say, “I get it already.” Thankfully, a lot of us do get it. Awareness about these issues is increasing across the globe everyday. Not only is the media all over it, schools, from elementary to the university-level, have also integrated sustainability in their curriculums. Now, starting in as early as elementary school, students are being educated about the various issues currently threatening our environment.
This is definitely progress. We have come a long way in the 45 years since the birth of environmentalism, April 22, 1970 (the first year the United States celebrated Earth Day). Nonetheless, there is no action in the direction of change to come even close to matching the amount of research and publicity about these issues. This is as true for our federal government (and the federal governments of most other countries on this planet) as it is for individuals, like you and me. This is most likely due to the fact that despite the countless palpable statistics that scientists and news sources are spitting out, it can be difficult to clearly visualize such changes to our environment, both the ones that are occurring presently and the ones that are expected to happen in the future.
If it is anyone’s responsibility to address this issue, it’s ours. As college students, we are historically the epicenter of all activism and social movement. We are the future workforce of this country and therefore have the capacity to revolutionize the way our culture looks at and acts upon environmental issues. But we need to start now. Johan Rocksöm, an expert on natural resource management and a professor at Stockholm University, claims that there are nine serious limits on our planet and we have already irreversibly surpassed four of them: climate change, decreasing biodiversity, deforestation, and nitrogen and phosphorous emissions into ecosystems. We can keep the other five limits under control, he explains; if we act immediately.
You don’t have to join an organization or start a protest (but if you want to, that’s great, too) in order to contribute to this cause. As environmental activist Austin Tye puts it, “You can make several changes in your own daily routine as a student that can have a major effect on the environment.”
If you don’t know where to start, here are some ideas:
1.    Use a reusable water bottle.
If you don’t already have one, now is the time. No excuses. It’s far cheaper than using a new plastic water bottle every day, and it won’t contribute to the two million tons of plastic water bottles that are already causing our landfills to overflow.
2.    Recycle, recycle, recycle!
This is obvious, but its positive impact on the environment is underestimated. Methane is 21 times more damaging than carbon dioxide, and landfills emit more of it into the atmosphere than any other human-caused source. If we are recycling, we’re diverting waste from the landfills, which will release less methane. You can recycle a lot more things than you think, and since our campus is chock-full of disposable food containers and paper products, make sure you pay attention to exactly what you can and can’t throw in the blue bin.
3.    Thrift.
Buying used clothing is not only a way of utilizing “waste.” It is also a way of conserving energy. By purchasing a thrifted shirt instead of a new one, you can cause one less shirt to be made in a factory that uses fossil fuels to power its machinery. Plus, you’re saving the environment from all of the pollution involved with this production process. Try shopping at Wilson Ross downtown, or online thrift stores such as liketwice.com and thredup.com.
4.    Eat less meat.
The meat industry produces almost a fifth of all greenhouse gases. If you decide to not eat meat one or two days a week, you’re helping to reduce demand and additional emissions.
5.    Read up.
We can’t ever know enough about the environment. Every day, researchers publish new studies about the planet and what we can do to help. As long as we all stay informed, we have a chance at saving dear old Mother Earth.
Read More on the Web:
·     http://ideas.ted.com/the-9-limits-of-our-planet-and-how-weve-raced-past-4-of-them/
·     http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/776/68/
·     http://thewaterproject.org/bottled_water_wasteful