Being a college student can make it difficult to lead a waste-free life for many different reasons. I always try to live environmentally cautious, but it can be difficult at times. I am definitely a culprit of using paper plates over dishes sometimes, and am sometimes caught using a plastic water bottle from time to time, but here are some ways that we can try our best as college students to live more sustainably.
I usually try to avoid buying single-use products, but when it is the cheaper option for a broke college student, I try to keep a few things in mind regarding their usage. I always try to make sure that whatever single-use items I’m buying are recyclable, so that when I am done with them, they can hopefully be repurposed! I also try to find products made specifically from recycled materials because their production is more sustainable. Multi-use plastic or glass tupperware is also a good alternative to storing food in single-use plastic containers, like a Ziploc bag, for instance.
Refresh on recycling rules! I’m sure a lot of college students are guilty of what is called “wish-cycling.” I know I was up until a few years ago. Basically, many items that people would consider recyclables are actually not able to be recycled, causing a few extra steps in their process to be properly taken care of. The biggest one I come across is greasy pizza boxes! Even though they are cardboard since there are food materials on them they are not able to be recycled. So make sure next time you go to recycle your dirty pizza box, you actually throw it in the trash instead.
I am honestly embarrassed if I am ever caught using a plastic water bottle on campus. But when it inevitably happens, whether it’s all my parents brought me when they visited or what I got from CJ’s, I always try to refill the plastic water bottle and use it for a few more days instead of my reusable water bottle (which I totally recommend as the easiest way to make a positive change to your sustainability routine). Recently, I’ve been drinking a lot of Gatorade since I was feeling a little under the weather, so if you catch me on campus this week, I will definitely be reusing one of my plastic Gatorade bottles as my water bottle. In the spirit of this, reusing plastic takeout containers and adding them to your tupperware collection is also a way to expand the lives of single-use plastics you may have not initially wanted to come into possession of.
Another place that waste can come from that is not as much of a no-brainer is food. I remember when I ate in the dining hall, I always had so much food to throw out after I finished my meal. Maybe it’s not something super easy to fix while you’re on a meal plan, but when I cook for myself, I try to take smaller portions to start with in order to preemptively reduce waste.
My last tip is to buy secondhand products and either give away or sell usable items! I always try to buy used textbooks, which is also a money saver. Thrifting for used clothes is also more sustainable than constantly purchasing a new wardrobe. Also, make sure to utilize Hoboken Curbside on Instagram if you need to get rid of some stuff or are looking to thrift some furniture or other random items.
Lifestyle HACKs is an Opinion column written and created by Zoe Hack ‘24 to discuss studying guides and techniques, healthy cooking and eating, and other lifestyle tips during college life.
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