In celebration of Earth Day (this Sunday!) here’s a list of ways you can stay eco-friendly around Williamsburg and even right here on campus. Little changes make a BIG difference, so start giving back to your planet today!
1. Reusable everything!
With all the reusable options out there, why would you go with anything else? One of my favorite reusable products is reusable shopping bags. They come in TONS of prints and colors and can hold a lot more items than a regular grocery bag, so you need fewer bags for each shopping trip. Check out http://baggubag.com/#Shop for some great options – I have the Alpaca print shopping tote and it is TOO CUTE!
Another reusable option is reusable water bottles and coffee cups. Next time you go to grab coffee at Starbucks, bring a reusable travel mug – you’ll find they can be very accommodating when you help them help the planet. When you make that trek to the gym take a reusable water bottle. The water fountain at the gym even has a cool attachment that fills up water bottles without having to press any buttons – totally hands free! Take advantage of the commodity.
2. Lights out
Turning unnecessary lights off is a great way to save energy. If you’re in your room, open the blinds on your window and use the natural light during the day. If you really can’t go without the lights (I’ll admit to having those days!) be sure to turn off the lights when you leave the room (that includes the bathroom).
3. Clean up your laundry act
William & Mary offers the FANTASTIC service of having high efficiency washers in the laundry rooms! These require less laundry detergent per load – only ¼ cup for each load. Be sure to use the lines on the inside of the detergent cap to measure this out, and use even less detergent for smaller loads – it prevents oversudsing and washes your clothing just as well. Some detergent caps have single numbers and not cup measurements – the cup measurement translation should be on the back of the detergent container. Another great way to make your laundry eco-friendly is to buy natural laundry detergent and fabric softener – I know they have a few different brands that fit this criteria at Target, and they really aren’t much different in cost from traditional laundry products, so make the switch today (but use the old stuff first – don’t want to waste!)
4. RECYCLE
I cannot stress this one enough – the college has provided you with a recycling bin – USE IT!!! It’s not hard at all to put cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, paper and other plastic items marked with a 1 or 2 on the bottom into that bin and to take these things to the blue disposal receptacle, which is usually right next to the green one for trash. This makes a huge difference as many companies are switching to products made with post-consumer materials, so help them out!
5. Planes, trains and…
Public transportation! Included in your tuition is FREE access to the bus and trolley system in Williamsburg (with student ID). I ride the various bus lines all the time and I promise I have never felt afraid or threatened in my travels and the bus really is a great, convenient way to get around once you figure out which lines go where. There’s even the green line, a special bus line that goes around the William & Mary campus and to Food Lion, Goodwill and Rita’s! Just be warned: the green line does NOT go to the Transportation Center or Target.
If you’re sketched out by public transportation you can also self-travel – use a bike to get around to the places you need to go. It’s great exercise and has little to no environmental impact! Longboard skateboards have also become popular recently, and they’re not just for guys! Longboards are safer and more stable than traditional skateboards and navigate the bumps of the William & Mary brick pathways quite well.
And just for fun…
6. Plant a plant!
Last year on my hall a couple of the girls and I bought small growing kits from target and grew some adorable flowers and plants on the windowsill in our hall. They were adorable and we were all so excited to take care of them and watch them grow – it was like baking, but with long-term satisfaction! This is a great way to get green things growing, and once the plants are big enough you can take them outside and re-plant them in the ground! If you do want to do this, buy perennials so they can come back year after year and grow and multiply!
I hope you’ve gained some knowledge, tips and tricks to help you start giving back to the planet that you can use in your everyday life. Happy Earth Day!
This year’s Earth Day celebration is April 22nd
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WM chapter.