http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/eco-friendly-student/
Being environmentally friendly at university may not the top priority for you, as after all those LCR nights your reading list is now longer than your arm. But protecting the environment isn’t as challenging as you may think. Simple things like turning off a light when you leave the room will not only help keep your carbon footprint down, but your household bills down too.
The same goes for the central heating. It might be the best feeling in world to have that heating turned up to 20 on the thermostat, but just turning it down just slightly will go a long way, and you will hardly notice the temperature change. Huddle under blankets or in your pyjamas and the heating could even go off!
If you and your flatmates are cooking dinner at the same time, the heating from the stove or oven will keep your house toasty for longer than you can imagine. Joint meals are one of the best ways to both help the environment and save money. You will be creating far less waste and you can even take any leftovers for lunch the next day.
Although you probably spend long enough staring at computer screens, if your seminar leader has mentioned you don’t need to print this week’s reading: don’t! Printing off 20 pages of that boring essay you are pretty confident you won’t use again is a huge waste of resources. But if you really must print your reading, perhaps share with a course friend, each getting half a week with the essay. Not only are you doing your bit to save the trees but it will encourage you to actually do the reading, and if you’re lucky your friend might write helpful notes all over it.
Walking or cycling to campus is a brilliant way to save money and help the environment. Rather than sitting on a stale bus, forking out hundreds for an annual bus pass, cycling will help you clear your head before that three hour seminar and act as a free gym! If cycling isn’t your thing, re-live your school days and walk. Plug in your headphones or walk in with a course friend or flatmate, and what may seem like a half hour trek from Unthank will turn into a great way to socialise. However if you do live impossibly far for campus (Bowthorpe, we’re looking at you) then try to always get the bus rather than investing in a car.
Being environmentally friendly is a lot easier than you might assume. Separating your household rubbish is practically mandatory now, so putting a bit of extra effort in to ensure your recycling all the right things isn’t too hard. With small and simple acts, not only are you helping planet earth, but by controlling how much energy you use, you’re keeping your bills down too; in the end, everybody wins!
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