College life is so fast-paced that convenience is often prioritized over sustainability, but it doesn’t have to be that way! It can take up to 1,000 years for plastic to decompose, so reducing the amount of waste you produce each day has an enormous impact on our environment and future quality of life. Below are some eco-friendly products to help you live a more sustainable lifestyle with little to no added effort.
- Coffee Mug
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This cute mug may be my favorite thing I’ve purchased all semester. It comes in a great variety of colors, is easy to clean and comes with a handy straw for iced drinks. My favorite feature, however, is how it collapses. Once you’re done drinking your coffee or tea, you can smush it down and throw it in your backpack! Even better, bringing in reusable mugs gets you discounts at a bunch of different coffee shops.
- Grocery Bags
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I feel like most people have these but in case you don’t, you can get reusable grocery bags at the checkout line in most grocery stores! They’re more sturdy than the plastic (and even paper) bags you usually get so you never have to worry about the straps breaking and having the gazillion dollars worth of groceries you just purchased scattered throughout the parking lot. Also, most stores will give you a discount for bringing in your own bags!
- Water Pitcher w/ Filter
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This may be a little TMI, but drinking water from the tap makes me gag. It could just be my apartment complex, but my guess is that the water doesn’t taste much better anywhere else. Rather than buying a bunch of disposable water bottles, invest in a Brita! Mine has a filter in the spout which means all I have to do is fill it from the sink and pour. The bad taste and other grossness gets filtered out in a matter of seconds!
- Snack Bags
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If you like to snack on campus like me, get some of these! They’re thicker than regular plastic snack bags so you don’t have to worry about them ripping when you throw them in your backpack. Also, once you’re done using them you can rinse them out so that they’re ready for the next time you need to prep for your afternoon pick-me-up. No need to throw them away in between uses!
- Straws
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Although reusable straws aren’t necessarily going to save the turtles (spoiler: the real killers are discarded fishing nets), every little bit helps to reduce the amount of waste added to landfills each day. I recommend finding a pack like this that comes with a case so you’ll actually have the straws with you when you need them. Also, I personally prefer silicone straws because you can throw them in the dishwasher to make sure they’re clean.
- Produce Bags
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Every time I go to the grocery store, I’m amazed at how much plastic is used for bagging produce. To be less wasteful, I always bring my mesh produce bags that I got from Amazon. They come in a variety of sizes and are super easy to close; unlike the plastic ones that need to be tied. I keep mine in my shopping bags so I’ll never forget them!
- K-Cups
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Rather than purchasing boxes of K-Cups, buy a set of reusable ones! Not only will you save money overall (buying K-Cups is way more expensive than bags of coffee), but you will greatly reduce the amount of plastic you throw away each day. Plus, the process of scooping coffee from a bag will make you feel like a real adult.
Investing in even one of these products makes a difference in the amount of single-use plastics added to landfills each day, so I hope you are inspired to start using some of the options above and live more sustainably.
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