The intensity and pressure of college life can make it hard to keep a sustainable lifestyle. It can seem too difficult or too expensive to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. However, there are a ton of ways that we can say thank you to the environment by cutting waste and doing our part to take care of our planet. As long as we are working to be more mindful of ourselves, we can focus on making changes that will help make a positive impact on the environment. To help us all lead more sustainable lives, here is a list of seven ways to cut waste from your life.
- Ditch Plastic Bags For Reusable Ones
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To help cut waste from your life, one of the easiest switches we can make is from plastic bags to reusable ones. Not only will this help save the environment, but the cost of buying plastic bags on every Target run adds up. Taking a few reusable bags with you on your next grocery trip will help you make a positive impact. Ditching plastic bags helps to cut down on plastic waste and helps you live a more eco-friendly life.
- Exchange Fast Fashion For Thrift Shopping
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The fast fashion industry creates a huge amount of waste. With trends coming in and out, clothes being tossed and the horrific working conditions in the factories, the fast fashion industry is not only environmentally harmful but also socially irresponsible.
- Reduce Food Waste
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Another way to improve your environmental footprint is to reduce the amount of food you waste. UCLA is pretty helpful in this regard, with compost bins around campus and in every dining hall. With mini fridges in our dorm rooms and communal microwaves on the hill and on campus, we can also save leftovers to avoid wasting perfectly good food. We can also donate excess food to local food kitchens and look up ways to help in our neighborhood.
- Buy A Reusable Water Bottle
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Instead of buying water bottles in the vending machines or picking up a flat of water from Costco, you should buy a reusable one. This will save you lots of money in the long run since some of those vending machines can charge you upwards of $2 for a water bottle. You will also be reducing the amount of waste you produce and keep yourself hydrated. It is easy to keep a water bottle full here at UCLA since there are countless filtered water bottle refill stations all around campus – there’s at least one in each building and even more on the hill. Students are also free to fill their bottles up in the dining halls with not only water, but juice or soda too!
- Take Shorter Showers
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I will admit that I often take long, hot showers. While they are very enjoyable, this is a bad habit for the earth since it wastes a large amount of both water and energy. I am trying my best to change my ways because of this. I have found that the best ways to keep track of time in the shower are either to set a timer/alarm or to play music. Since foregoing long showers might mean giving up your relaxation time, you can look for other ways to pamper yourself instead.
- Use Natural Products
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In today’s world, we are constantly inventing better and safer products to clean our homes with, to put on our faces and to put in our bodies. These products that are better for us are also better for the environment because they use less chemicals. There are tons of brands out there that are working towards more sustainable formulas that benefit both us and the environment, so there is no point in using those harsh chemicals anymore.
- Reduce Energy Use
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Reducing our energy use is easy. It is as simple as turning off the lights when you leave a room and unplugging all unnecessary devices. The amount of power that your chargers use even when they are not charging your phone or your laptop would surprise you. Using your phone less will also reduce your energy use since you will not need to charge it as long! Driving less can also reduce the amount of energy you use. You can instead choose to walk for the added health benefits or take public transportation if you are traveling farther.
Making the transition to a sustainable lifestyle can seem overwhelming at first. However, changing a few things at a time can help put everything into perspective. Saving the planet is too much for any one person to do on their own, but we need to remember that every choice we make has an impact. Doing what we can to help save our planet makes a big difference in the long run.