Simpler ways to a greener lifestyle at college.
As a college student, money is always on my mind, so when I hear about “going green,” my mind automatically screams “EXPENSIVE!” As much I as I want to be green and protect our Earth, I often do not think I have the money to do so. However, going green doesn’t HAVE to be expensive. That said, here are some simple ways for us, as college students, to live a greener, yet still affordable lifestyle.
1. Carry around a reusable water bottle.
Now this one is easy, and probably the most commonly heard, especially on UVM’s campus since the sale of plastic water bottles has been banned. If you look around campus, you will see that there are water fountains and drink bottle fill up stations in nearly every building. By carrying around a reusable water bottle, we are simply limiting the amount of plastic waste we build up. This further goes to coffee mugs. Even if you buy coffee on campus every day, invest in a reusable mug. Baristas at Cyber Café and Henderson’s Café will happily fill up your to-go mug, and you will be decreasing plastic and paper waste you would have otherwise been filling landfills up with your daily cup of coffee.
2. Use your car wisely.
This is another pretty simple and familiar one around here. UVM is one of the greenest campuses I’ve seen. People are always riding their bikes, skateboarding, walking and even roller blading to class. Not only are these fun ways of transportation, but you are saving energy and emitting less gas you might have otherwise been doing if you were driving your car. Additionally, Burlington and UVM have great bus systems. Public transportation is another simple way to reduce your emissions if you do not have the energy to walk or ride your bike.
3. Invest in reusable bags.
You see them everywhere around here, yet we are still not using them enough. There are constantly free giveaways here where you can win reusable bags, or simply invest in one, or a few, at the grocery store…they’re usually less than a dollar! Once you have your reusable bags you can use them for just about anything! Take them to the grocery store or farmers’ market or use them as an extra bag to carry your lunch or extra items in! Not to mention, good ones are usually durable enough to hold heavy items if you’re lugging stuff across campus!
4. Pack your own lunch.
Living off campus? Want to save money? Want to save the Earth? Pack your own lunch. Packing your own lunch is not only cheaper, but also greener. By packing your lunch and using utensils and Tupperware from home, you are reducing waste you would’ve otherwise created from buying a to-go lunch at the local café. Many grab and go lunches are often packaged in plastic or paper, and you end up using plastic utensils. However, by packing your lunch in Tupperware and bringing utensils from home, you are cutting down on waste as when you get home later, you just throw them in the dishwasher and use them again tomorrow! Make sure you also ditch the brown paper or plastic bag!!
5. Turn off the lights and unplug.
Again, a simple one. Before leaving the room, make sure you turn off any lights and unplug anything you are not using. Even just leaving a charger plugged into an outlet will use up energy!
6. Fully load your dishwasher and washing machine.
Think about it. The more you load up your machines, the less cycles you have to do. The less cycles you have to do, the less energy you are using!
7. Buy Less or Borrow.
If you can, it is in your best interest to not buy material goods, unless absolutely necessary. Now, I know this is a hard one, but by buying less and borrowing more, you will be reducing waste AND saving money. On campus, check out the library for movies and books to rent. Also, use the internet!! There many ways to electronically download things like music, books and movies (this is where Netflix comes in) these days. What about textbooks? Look online, and buy used…they’re cheaper that way anyhow!
8. Consider “Meatless Monday”.
Now it can be any day of the week, it does not just have to be Monday. Raising livestock produces large amounts of greenhouse gases. By simply cutting back on meat at least one day a week, you can influence change. By no means am I saying to go vegetarian, but think about it…reducing your meat consumption, even just by the slightest bit could affect the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the environment.
Now I’ve hit some of the big ones, but I am going to leave some things like showering and flushing the toilet less up to you.