Staying and being sustainable as a student can seem costly and difficult to accomplish, but it doesn’t have to be.

According to the EPA, everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.

To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.

It’s a simple concept with various ways to go about keeping sustainable.

So, when you think about what you can do as a student to be more sustainable and incorporate aspects into your life, there’s no need to think too hard. Here are a few simple tips that you as a student can easily incorporate into your life.

TIPS TO BECOMING MORE SUSTAINABLE:

1. Stop buying single-use water bottles and use a reusable one. The school has plenty of water refill stations on campus for you to use.
2. Buy a reusable utensil set to carry with you instead of using single-use sets. You can buy a set for as low as $10 on Amazon.
3. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag): When you go shopping instead of using the plastic bags provided at stores. Carry around a reusable fold-up tote/bag with you.
4. TBYP (Think Before You Print): This doesn’t mean to stop printing, but to think about the impact it has on nature. Essentially just print what you need to avoid wasting paper, ink, and toner. By doing this you will help the environment and save yourself some money.
5. Say no to single-use straws and carry a reusable one. Amazon has plenty of options to choose from and you can buy a set and most of them include a cleaning brush with it.
6. Ask for e-receipts over paper ones.
7. Actively recycle recyclable resources. The university uses a single-stream system that makes it easier for you to recycle. There are plenty of recycling bins on campus that clearly show what you can put in them.
8. You can also conserve energy by turning off any electronics when not in use. Such as, if you’re not in your dorm, turn off all the lights.
9. You can conserve water by only using what you need. Such as, do not keep the faucet running while you are doing something else.
10. IF YOU CAN’T FIND ANY ALTERNATIVES ACCESSIBLE TO YOU: MAKE SURE TO RECYCLE ANY RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS THAT YOU USE.

Finally, remember that adopting a sustainable lifestyle or at least aspects of it, is a process and not a task to complete. This shouldn’t be frustrating or feel like an inconvenience to you. Being a college student is stressful enough with everything it entails as well as expensive so, this isn’t meant to add to any more stress in your life or any more expenses.

The tips listed are little things you as a college student can do to help the environment with little cost and zero inconveniences. If you want to try out bigger switches regarding sustainability, there is plenty of information online to help you expand on what you want to do, but if you don’t want to that’s fine.

For every little action taken to help our planet adds up and even if you don’t see a change, there is one happening.