1. Be more conscious
Overall, people tend to go their daily lives without thinking about how their actions impact others, especially the Earth. If you understand that what you are doing has a direct impact on the planet, then you can start to reduce your carbon footprint and start taking little steps to better your life and the life of others. Being mindful about what you are doing, what products you are using, and how much of an item you are using can be super beneficial in starting to cut back on a lot of the non-green behaviors. Thinking to yourself, “do I need to be doing this?” can allow you to think about the actual action you are performing and see if how you are going about it is the best way to do it.
2. Say no to plastic bags
We all know this, but why is it an issue? What’s one more plastic bag? One more is too many! Think about the last time you were outside on a windy day. You probably saw a plastic bag floating around. A lot of these plastic bags end up in the lakes and oceans and harm the creatures that live there. One way to cut back on your plastic bag numbers is to see what it is that you’re buying. When you are at the grocery store and the bagger starts putting the two items you have into a plastic bag, you can say “I actually don’t need a bag, thank you!” and you can carry the items to your car. Another popular way to reduce your plastic bag use is to purchase reusable bags. I would highly recommend this, as they can be used to carry pretty much anything. Going to the grocery store? Perfect. Headed to Target? Even better. Going to spend the night at your friends house? Equally as good. Another plus is that if you are anything like me and spill things often, most of the time they can go right in the wash. I have a few reusable bags from BAGGU and I absolutely love them. They always come in cute patterns and they have a little pouch that they fold to fit in to take up less space!
3. Skip the straw
This one is pretty easy to do once you realize how many straws you use. If you are eating in a restaurant or area in which you know you will be sitting for a long period of time, you do not need to get a straw. If you bring a reusable water bottle with you, you wont need to buy a drink which not only cuts down on your costs, it also helps you stay hydrated and not drink as many sugary drinks, and cuts down on your amount of trash. Another solution to this straw dilemma is to purchase a reusable straw that you can bring with you in a purse or backpack. A lot of websites sell stainless steel straws that oftentimes come with a straw brush which is super helpful for cleaning them.
4. Bring your travel mug
Let’s face it; we all pretty much run off of coffee. How many cups a day/week do you buy from a coffee shop? The majority of coffee shops offer a discount on your drinks if you bring a reusable mug to buy your coffee in. This saves money and also decreases the amount of trash that we use!
5. Be brand informed
There are so many stores that sell things that are recycled, or that are encouraged to be recycled after it’s use. Lush Handmade Cosmetics for example, offers a free or reduced product after you return a certain amount of the containers that their products come in. Part of their advertising is about how their products are made, including ethical buying, that they do not test on animals, that their products are vegetarian, and naked packaging. Find them at https://www.lushusa.com/. Another good one is Package Free. Their online store (https://packagefreeshop.com/) has endless amounts of things that you can buy that not only help the environment but are also just super cool in general. Their mission is to reduce plastic waste and increase the amount of things that are more than single-use. There are an increasing amount of companies that are donating some of their proceeds to certain causes. Some good ones include: https://www.puravidabracelets.com/collections/charity, which is awesome because you can often choose which charity the money goes to, https://www.ivoryella.com/collections/all?sort_by=created-descending is a good one that helps elephants, https://pawzshop.com/ helps homeless animals in the US and https://www.sandcloud.com/pages/our-mission which helps save marine life. These are just to name a few, and it’s a great way to get some cute clothes for a cause!
6. Know what is actually recyclable
Usually, items say on the packaging whether or not they are recyclable. Make sure you are checking whether they are or aren’t before you just huck something in the trash!
7. Lights and water
When you aren’t in a room make sure you aren’t leaving the lights on. Try to be more conscious about how long your showers are taking! Another way to reduce water is to have the faucet turned off while you are brushing your teeth, that can add up day after day!
8. Walk or use public transportation
This one is very easy to do on or around a college campus. Often times there are trails that go from housing complexes to campus. Busses go to all of the housing complexes around campus and it would be very easy to learn the schedule. Also, walking from the housing complexes across the street from campus takes less time than going to your car, waiting in traffic, and finding a spot to park. If you must drive, try to see when your roommates go to campus so that you can all try to carpool!
9. Don’t buy plastic toothbrushes
One of the most found items in landfills and ocean garbage is plastic toothbrushes. The average American is instructed to change their toothbrush every 3-4 months. That’s 3-4 toothbrushes per person per year. You can find wood or bamboo toothbrushes on https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076LM4Q42/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2PBSHVLK8E033&psc=1.
10. Cut back on plastic Cutlery
Just being conscious about if you need silverware before you take it can eliminate so much plastic silverware waste! Bringing lunch can also reduce the amount of plastic waste because you will be bringing either metal cutlery or other reusables.