I chose to talk about sustainability in the lives of
BYU students for two reasons: one, I think that we sometimes see environmental
stewardship as this far-removed responsibility that only the government or
important leaders have to worry about.
This is false, though—policy making starts with us. We are responsible for the nation’s attitude
about environmentalism and preserving our natural resources. When we make an effort to make responsible
choices, we are spreading our attitudes, setting examples, and contributing to
managing our natural world in the best possible way. Two, I thought it would be helpful and
interesting to note what we specifically as college students in Provo can do to
do our part. I think that sometimes as
students we don’t feel like we’re living real life yet and that there’s not
really much we can do to help impact the environment, but as noted in my
research, even seemingly small actions add up in a big way.
20 Steps to a More Sustainable
Lifestyle in Provo, UT
For my project, I
underwent an experiment in sustainable living.
Here are 20 easy ways BYU students can transition to a more sustainable,
environmentally-friendly way of living, tested by me.
If we extended this philosophy to
everything else we own, how much could we help to save the environment and
preserve what we have for future generations?
1. Switch to more environmentally-friendly feminine
products.
An estimated 12 billion feminine hygiene products are dumped into landfills
in North American every year (1). One of the greenest and most popular alternatives to pads
and tampons is the menstrual cup.
So as part of my
experiment, I went out and bought one ($35 at Good Earth). They’re made of silicon and can be used for
years, so their environmental impact is much lower than tampons or pads. It was kind of weird getting used to it, but
I’d definitely recommend one. This is
the website for the one I bought: http://divacup.com/.
2. Don’t use plastic bags when grocery
shopping—instead, bring your own reusable ones.
Plastic bags are
plentiful in the U.S.—approximately 100 billion plastic grocery bags are used
each year, and only about 1-2% of these are recycled (2). Plastic bags are actually
being banned or limited across the world in order to cut back on waste (though
not anywhere in Utah yet)—http://www.factorydirectpromos.com/plastic-bag-bans.
I made a few of my own bags by recycling some old
t-shirts (double the environmental benefits!).
Instructions can be found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/266942/t-shirt-bag.
3. Save paper—use the backs of papers instead
of using a clean sheet of paper every time you need to write something down.
40% of the solid
mass in landfills is paper and paperboard waste, and paper usage is rising
about 20% ever year (3). Paper waste is definitely an area we can improve upon.
I dug out all my
old handouts, fliers, syllabi, etc. that were destined for the trash and used
them up. It’s an easy change to
make.
4. Shop at D.I. and other thrift stores.
ABC News estimates
that 98% of our clothing comes from foreign countries. This means that a great
deal of energy is consumed in order for our clothes to be shipped to the U.S. In
addition, at thrift stores, there isn’t the excess packaging you would find if
you were to buy an item brand-new (4).
I got an armchair
and a TV for my apartment from the D.I. in Provo—both cheap and both totally
functional.
5. Plant
a garden.
When you grow your
own food, you’re cutting down on herbicide and pesticide use, which can get
into our water and cause harm. In
addition, a lot of our produce must be shipped from far away, meaning more
energy consumed (5).
Last summer, I
rented a plot from the Provo community garden.
It’s only $20 to rent a plot, and you get a $15 rebate at the end of the
summer if you clear it out yourself. Information about renting a plot can be
found here: http://communityactionprovo.org/services/community-garden/.
6. Take advantage of websites like Freecycle,
Craigslist, valet.swap.com, and paperbackswap.com.
The idea behind
these websites is to keep possessions you no longer want out of the trash and
landfills. Every year, the U.S. fills
enough garbage trucks to form a line that would stretch from the Earth to half
the distance to the moon (6).
I decided to sign
up on Freecycle to see what it was all about. Users can post wanted ads (things
they are looking for) or offers (things they want to give away). This way, you can either get free items you
need from willing members if you can’t afford or prefer not to get it new, or
get rid of clutter in your house that someone else can use.
7. Wash your laundry in cold water.
According to one
source, 90% of the energy a washing machine uses is to heat up the water. Pushing the “cold” button saves a great deal
of energy (and money) (7).
Clothing gets just
as clean as it would if it were washed in hot or warm water, and it’s a simple
switch to make.
8. Unplug all your electronics when you’re not
using them.
The International
Energy Agency estimates that in a personal home, leaving electronics plugged in
can be responsible for as much as 75% of a home’s electricity bill (8).
Make it a habit to
unplug all of your appliances when you’re not using them—it will help both the
environment and your utility bill.
9. Dry laundry outside.
Clothing driers are
the 3rd most energy-guzzling appliance in your home—ironic, because
drying clothing is something you can do for free (9).
Invest in a
clothesline (or do like I did—I hung my clothes on the railing of my apartment
complex), and cut back on energy usage (and avoid having to feed another dollar
into the dryer machine).
10. Get used textbooks or e-readers.
125 million trees are
harvested every year to print new books (10).
E-readers, many experts note, will
be a huge benefit to the environment. If
you don’t have access to one, buying used books (or using the library) is
another great option. I buy all my books
either used from the BYU bookstore or from Amazon.
11. Take shorter showers.
According to Kohler, “cutting one
minute off a shower every day saves 2.5 glaoons of water daily and 912 gallons
yearly” (11).
I love long showers, so this one
was a little hard to want to put into practice, but it makes such a difference,
and you end up shaving off time off your morning routine on top of it.
12. Make your own cleaning products.
Cleaning supplies are full of
chemicals that haven’t been studied as thoroughly as they should be. They have the potential to get into our
waterways, harming animals and the habitats they live in. In addition, these chemicals are concentrated
in your home—indoor pollution is just as big a concern as outdoor pollution
(12).
All you need to make your own
cleaning products are very basic ingredients like vinegar and baking soda. Recipes can be found here: http://organizedhome.com/clean-house/pantry-recipes-homemade-cleaning-products.
13. Recycle!
Over 75% of our waste is
recyclable, but we only end up recycling about 30% of it (13). Even if your apartment doesn’t have a
recycling bin, it’s not that hard to bag up your trash and take it to recycle
bin in Provo. And signing up for your
own bins is very inexpensive anyway.
More information on where to drop off your recyclables: http://www.recycleutah.org/. And make sure to use the recycle bins on
campus!
14. Walk or bike to school.
One car, in its lifetime, produces “1.3 billion cubic yards of polluted air and scatters an
additional 40 pounds of worn tire particles, brake debris and worn road surface
into the atmosphere” (14). Walking, biking,
or even taking public transportation when possible can have a huge impact on
the environment. To show my dedication
to this tip, I even walked to school at night and when there were free parking
spots available. It wasn’t that bad
though.
15. Eat less meat.
Experts claim that anywhere from 18
to 51 percent of greenhouse gases are emitted from raising livestock for food
(15). We can help decrease these
emissions by cutting down on the amount of meat we consume. And you don’t have to go full-on vegetarian
to help make an impact—just replacing a few meals with meatless options helps.
I decided to not eat any meat for a
week and replaced all my normal menus with meatless options. It wasn’t too bad, and it actually ended up
being cheaper in the long run.
16. Take care of your car.
As we talked about before, driving
a car has a huge impact on the environment.
The National Institute for Automotive
Service Excellence recommends two things we can do to lessen this impact:
practice better driving habits, and regular vehicle maintenance (16).
Some ideas: don’t
accelerate suddenly, don’t stall your car if you know you’re going to be a
while, make sure to keep up on your oil and fluid changes (leakages lead to
runoff into waterways and soil), keep your tires inflated and properly aligned
(otherwise they have to work twice as hard and use more energy), and don’t wash
your car by hand—take it to a car wash (they have the equipment necessary to
dispose of the chemicals you use when washing).
17. Turn off your lights.
Lighting accounts for 17% of all
electricity consumption in the U.S. and up to 50% of a building’s energy use
(17).
It’s simple—just turn out the
lights when you leave a room. Better yet, use natural light as much as
possible. I found that if I kept all the
blinds open, I didn’t have to turn on the lights until about 8:00 at
night.
18. Exercise.
Exercise
has obvious benefits, but it has some hidden environmental ones as well. Exercise,
of course, keeps you healthy and free from disease, and disease is expensive in
more than one way—“prescriptions, medical exams and doctors visits all come
with significant eco costs.”
And
American hospitals “generate approximately 6,600 tons of waste daily. As much
as 85 percent of that is non-hazardous solid waste, such as paper, cardboard,
food waste, metal, glass and plastics, according to Practice Green Health”
(18).
To try
this tip out, I signed up for a half marathon this summer and made a workout
plan for myself. It is hell, but the payoffs are worth it.
19. Use a reusable water bottle.
According to one source, “roughly 1.5 million tons of
plastic are expended in the bottling of 89 billion liters of water each year”
(19). On top of that, most of the water
we buy in bottles is actually just tap water anyway.
Just buy a reusable water bottle! Painless and cheap.
20. Change the way you think about consumerism.
Our culture places a lot of value
on having the newest, best, most innovative technology and possessions. We buy new phones, new computers, new
clothing not because what we currently have is no longer functional, but
because we have to have the latest and newest of everything.
The picture I used for this principle is my 2007 Nano iPod. It’s been
stepped on, dropped, run through the washer multiple times. Sometimes I wish I had a better one, but I
keep it because it still works just as well as a newer one. 
