With the whirlwind of issues out there, what can you do to help our Earth? Between school, work, and life in general it can be hard to take note of the little things you can do. To help you out, here is a list of three things you can do to help protect our environment.
- What you put your money towards matters.
You really do vote with your dollar so why not take advantage of your purchasing power? The biggest way to do this is to not support fast fashion brands and instead supporting local businesses. This can be difficult because as a college student, budgets can be tight but often the easiest and most inexpensive option is buying second hand. Whether it be thrifting, shopping at a consignment store, or buying second hand online, your wallet and the Earth would deeply appreciate it.
- Make easy swaps to reduce your carbon footprint.
Chances are that things you use in your everyday life that are single use or plastic are most likely replaceable with something more sustainable. You can replace your plastic toothbrush with a compostable one, use a reusable water bottle rather than the single use kind, and even carry around your own silverware instead of using the disposable kind.
- Watch what you eat.
Of course a healthy diet is important but what I mean here is you should really pay attention to where your food comes from. A hard truth is that indulgent foods like Nutella can often have ingredients unethically sourced. Nutella contains palm oil which causes the destruction of entire habitats leading to the harm of the wildlife that depends on it.
Written by Anamaria Flores, Class of 2021