20 Steps to a More Sustainable Lifestyle in Provo, UT - Hannah Payne

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 3^rd 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.