As college students, caring for the environment is not often at the forefront of our minds (unless you’re an ecology major – haha). This may partly be from what we hear about the disastrous state of our environment, making environmental care seem like an overwhelming problem better left in the hands of experts. First off, “care” is not the same as “fixing.” While not everyone may be equipped to “fix” environmental problems, anyone can care. And probably should. Because we all live on Earth. Together. Smelling the same air. Whether that’s enjoyable or not. SO – how can you care? Here are some ideas I’ve come up with over the years and have implemented even in my college dorm life:
- Done with a single-use plastic bag? Use it as a garbage bag.
- Instead of paper towels, use a rag or old washcloth.Â
- Window open? Turn the heat off. (Turn off lights when exiting a room, turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth, take shorter showers – we’ve all heard these).Â
- Buy bulk, avoid individually packaged items. This can help decrease the packaging-to-product ratio of your purchase.Â
- Shopping? Buy local. The less your food has to travel before it gets to you, the smaller its carbon footprint.Â
- Keep reusable shopping bags in your car, or better yet, walk to get your groceries (that’s not too hard around SPU!).Â
- Look for clothes or dorm decorations at the thrift store. There are so many creative ways of repurposing thrifted items, and if you’re not one of those creative types, donate your unwanted items.Â
- Don’t need it? Consider not buying it.Â
Whether it’s time stopping you (some of these take like two seconds!), money, political ideologies, a lack of personal will power to care about something a little more transcendent – I hope after this it’s a little less despair, dismissiveness, or despondency toward the environmental plight we hear about. So care about your home, and care actively through these small changes in day-to-day living.Â