5 Ways To Be Environmentally Responsible On A Student Budget
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Helping the planet doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, if you’re smart about it, it can actually save you a lot of money.
Being environmentally responsible can give you a whole bunch of experience and skills, all while becoming your own version of Captain Planet.
Use A KeepCup
We’ve spoken before about the benefits of a KeepCup. While they do range from $10-$30 to buy, you’ll soon see your money returned in no time. Some cafes have great initiatives to encourage people to bring their reusable cups, such as offering discounted coffee.
Not only do you get cheaper coffee, you’re actually helping the environment. Turns out, take away cups are lined with a thin layer of plastic that can’t be recycled. So in the long run, your reusable cup is saving lots of nasty takeaway cups from landfill.
Volunteer Your Time
Not only will volunteering look good on your CV and help you gain new skills, if you lend a hand to an environmental cleanup you’ll be making our planet prettier.
Clean Up Australia Day or National Tree Day are just some of the initiatives you can get involved with. You can meet other people who share the same interest as you, or you can bring a bunch of your roommates with you to join in on the action.
Whether it’s planting more trees around your area or collecting rubbish, Mother Earth will be very appreciative of your help.
Reuse Your Shopping Bags
Reusable bags can double up as storage bags when you move, and they can cost less than $2. If you bring these bags every time you shop for your groceries, you’ll soon realise just how valuable they are.
Major supermarkets are now slowly encouraging shoppers to bring them along, with chains like Aldi already requiring them. Not only will you fit more in than a normal plastic bag, you’re saving sea creatures and animals who mistake the shiny plastic for food.
Buy A Water Bottle. And Use It
It’s simple. Buy a reusable water bottle from any store, and fill it up everywhere you go. You’ve no doubt seen the refillable taps around your uni – you should be making the most of these rather than buying bottled water from a store. It’ll also save you a bunch of money.
Ditch The Car
We always complain about how much parking permits are, or how annoying the major roads get during peak hour. What if we told you that you can totally avoid that?
Invest in your local commuter pass, or a bike, and ride to uni instead of driving. If you find yourself far from public transport, you can still drive to your closest train station or bus stop and go from there.
You can walk or ride your bike, and get your daily dose of exercise. Not only that, you are saving money from petrol and saving the planet from the pollution that your car makes.
(Lead image: Parks And Recreation/NBC)
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Sinead Simpkins studies Master of Arts at University of New England. When she’s not studying, she’s still waiting for her Hogwarts letter.