Being sustainable at university

Being a geography student, the decision to become more sustainable was developed over many years of studying the impacts that we, as humans, are having on this planet. In the recent news we have witnessed the devastating impacts our actions have had on the Amazon rainforest amongst other problems, so over recent years I have gradually made the change to become more sustainable.

I found that it is difficult to become fully sustainable straight away, so the key is to make small changes regularly otherwise it will be too hard to maintain the changes and can put you off trying again in the future. The changes I have made include always using tote bags when shopping, using reusable shopping bags, using shops that are finding ways to be more sustainable themselves, and using Tupperware instead of plastic bags for food. I have also purchased numerous reusable mugs which most cafes accept now, including all of the University cafes and the SU shop. Below is a photo of some of the sustainable products I use on a day-to-day basis including handmade crochet face pads instead of using cotton wool, water only make-up remover cloths instead of wipes, and a shampoo bar instead of bottled shampoo.

One of the biggest changes I decided to make is regarding university work. This change was to be a paperless student whilst at university and so far I have achieved this goal with a few exceptions. I use my laptop to take notes in lectures and then, as I prefer to handwrite my notes, I use an iPad and Apple Pencil. There are also so many other tablet/computer combination options available that encourage this new way to become paperless whilst maintaining a lower price suitable for students. I have also found this to be a really fun way to approach university, all my notes are in one place and are saved to my university one drive so no matter what happens, I will always have access to them reducing the risk of notes being damaged, destroyed or lost. I have also found it saves paper even more than I thought because if you mess up, the undo button fixes your work straight away instead of having to start over, which I have utilized a lot. Additionally, having my notes in one place means I can be on the go and not carry around tons of paper which is better in terms of health, reducing the weight of the bags on your shoulders. 

I think a common misconception around sustainability is that if you switch from plastic to paper it means you are being more efficient, and whilst there is a huge problem with plastic, the reliance on paper and cardboard is soon going to become another major problem, especially with the deforestation required to get paper, removing massive amounts of trees that reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Based on this, I think some of the best sustainable and eco-friendly products include those that are made from recycled materials and anything reusable, as single-use products are some of the biggest culprits for environmental problems.

I have found it really easy to be sustainable at university. Lecturers welcome you to use your own style of note taking, the SU shop has numerous eco-friendly items available to purchase such as beeswax food wraps, and there are so many bins around the University that have a section for recycling and one for general waste. And there are water fountains all around campus to save buying single-use plastic bottles.

If you try to make changes but find it too hard, stick at it and you will find that it will get easier as you adapt to, you may even find it more efficient, as with a lunch box, you no longer have to hunt for a bin to put your bags in!