How to be a sustainable student
Beth Ravenscroft
Digital Marketing BSc(Hons) - Second Year
Hiya, my name's Beth and I’m a first year student studying Digital and Social Media Marketing! I have my own YouTube channel, where I create lifestyle and student content, and I couldn’t live without music!
Current or soon to be a student? Looking to be more sustainable? You're in the right place!
I'm Beth, a second-year Digital Marketing Student here at the University of Huddersfield. Since I started university I've become increasingly aware of my impact on the environment and I've been gradually working on how to improve this and do better for our planet.
My decision to become more sustainable at university started from being surrounded by new people and seeing environmental initiatives online. Sustainable living is achieved by making choices that aim to reduce environmental impacts, e.g. offsetting climate change and limiting environmental damage. As my awareness increased of the damage our actions cause, I decided it was time to make some changes. It’s not easy to be completely sustainable all at once and nobody is perfect, but small improvements add up. So I'd like to share some of mine with you.
Buying reusable products does not only help the environment but work out cheaper in the long run. What student doesn't want to save some money?!
A reusable water bottle will save you the cost of a bottle of water each day and prevent you from being a contributor to the approximate amount of around 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles bought each year in the UK.
You can fill your reusable botttle up on campus, or if you are out and about, try using the Refill app.
The Refill app is an application available on your phone, with listed refill stations in your area. With this, you can click refill at your chosen location, check where in the store to go, pop in and ask for your reusable bottle to be refilled for free! For example, in Huddersfield, multiple cafes and coffee shops are available on the refill app, you are not required to purchase anything when using the service if you don't wish.
Another handy reusable item is a coffee cup, to reduce single-use cups as they cannot usually be recycled. There's many benefits to this, including; you can get a nice looking one, they keep drinks hot for longer, they prevent leaks and spills, they will help save you money AND reduce plastic waste!
The Students' Union shop in Student Central offers a discount of 25p off hot drinks when using your own cup, and also offers a loyalty card system where when you buy nine hot drinks, the tenth is free! Many chain coffee shops also offer a discount when you bring your own cup, so it's another great way to save a bit of money while out and about.
Luckily the Students' Union shop has got us covered here and sells reusable water bottles, coffee cups and tote bags! These can be bought in the shop on campus, or online, for a really affordable price.
One tip for being more eco-friendly and doesn’t require any extra purchases, is just to look in the supermarket for recycled and recyclable packaging while doing your food shop and trying to buy these versions of products instead.
You could also buy loose veg such as; onions, potatoes and peppers, rather than buying them in plastic packaging. This is an easy swap to make and avoids excess plastic packaging and food waste. This way you buy the amount you need rather than a bag full that may be wasted.
Even a small change in your day to day life can make a big impact, and doing something is always better than doing nothing. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you forget here and there, but making that conscious effort is what we need to save the planet from the damage we humans are doing.
With small changes, it will get easier as you adapt and incorporate sustainability into your lifestyle. There are so many more ways to be sustainable that you could try, from toiletries like shampoo bars, bamboo toothbrushes, reusable makeup, second hand or vintage clothes, to going paperless with your university notes where possible. Smaller acts like this are relatively easy to do but make a big difference.
That's all from me… So, what sustainable change will you make first?
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