Being a college student can be hard. No questions asked. From struggling to cook on your own to avoid surviving off the Caf and microwave food to trying to support your causes like being eco-friendly when you’re a) broke, b) left with very few options and c) left with even less time and energy.
While I’ve managed to scrape out a balance between cooking for myself and using my meal points, I’ve still been struggling with something I’m starting to become passionate about; sustainability.
It’s been a hot topic this year; climate change and what we can/aren’t doing to try and stop it. I know that using a tote bag or a reusable water bottle isn’t going to bring back the ice caps immediately or save endangered species, but that doesn’t mean it’s pointless either. I also know being a sustainable college student is far from easy, but I’ve found small ways, here they are:
- Toothpaste Bites and Wooden Toothbrush
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I just recently switched over to using tooth bites instead of tubed toothpaste and I’m so happy I switched. I honestly cannot tell the difference when I’m brushing my teeth and they’re really easy to get. I got mine from bitetoothpastebits.com, but you can also purchase them from Lush and other companies are releasing them too. The next thing on my list is a wooden toothbrush, I have one at home that I got from Marshall’s, but I was already using a plastic one when I bought it. Once my current toothbrush is no longer any good, that’s my last plastic toothbrush.
- Plastic-Free Take Away Mug
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Reusable cups have also been a highly recommended way to reduce plastic, but it’s important to make sure that they are actually 100% plastic-free. They’re pretty easy to find with a simple google search, but at a glance, glass ones are generally safe, even if they have silicon. I recently got my own from anocup.com, an Australian brand that also sells in the U.S via amazon and it only cost me $20, the cheapest 12 oz. cup I could find.
- Plastic-Free Beauty Products
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As an avid skincare and beauty products fan, I love finding new products, and then I realized just how much single-use plastic beauty products produce. I hit the internet searching for companies that didn’t package in single-use or non-virgin plastic and I’ll be honest the list isn’t long, and even shorter if you’re on a budget, but my new motto is: spend the money if it’s going to last you. Some of the companies and products I found are:
Lush (not a new discovery, but still great)
Meow Meow Tweet
SweetChef Superfood + Vitamins Moisture Boost - Shampoo Bars
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As a woman with curly hair, I’m very picky about my hair care products and didn’t have much faith in shampoo bars when they first started popping up, but now they seem to be well-received by all hair types. You just have to look at the ingredients in them and find the ones that your hair needs. Like my curls love argan oil and Lush has a shampoo bar with argan oil and rose. Take a look and you might be pleasantly suprised, plus they’re huge and last.
- Thrifting
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Who doesn’t love a good find when thrifting? I would never describe myself as a pro-thrifter, but you can usually find some basics at the thrift shop instead of getting brand new ones. Remember its the small stuff.
I saw a post on Instagram that I can’t find, but I think it hits perfectly. “We don’t need one person doing zero-waste perfectly. We need a million people doing it imperfectly.”