Strategies for College Students to Reduce Carbon Footprint
- Walk, Carpool, Bike, Public Transport
- Locally Sourced Food
- Reusable Bottles
- News Online
- Unplug Chargers when Not in Use
Colleges and universities across the United States have become more aggressive in implementing programs to make campuses greener. Although these programs may be well-intentioned, unless college students take an active role in greening a campus, even the best-intended sustainability program will fall flat. Students who incorporate these five strategies into their daily lives will ultimately make a notable contribution to a cleaner, healthier environment.
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Walk, Carpool, Bike, Public Transport
Many college students are closely wed to his or her automobile. The stark reality is that car emissions represent one of the most significant sources of pollution on the planet today. A college student can significantly decrease his or her carbon footprint by walking, carpooling, biking, or taking public transport. Many colleges and universities understand this fact and now make resources available to their students to make it easier to go from place-to-place using one or another of these strategies.
Locally Sourced Food
The transport of food items from source to market oftentimes involves a cumbersome transport process that involves the emission of a significant amount of airborne contaminants. College students can take a marked nick out of carbon emissions by locally sourcing food. This includes foodstuffs purchased at the market as well as dishes ordered at restaurants and bistros. On-campus dining halls and facilities are becoming more tuned in to including locally sourced food items on their menus.
Reusable Bottles
Plastic bottles are causing a major crisis in oceans and landfills around the world. Creating plastic containers and even recycling plastic products leaves a significant carbon footprint. By going the reusable container route for beverages of all types can prove to be a significant contributor to lessening a student’s carbon footprint and lowering the amount of solid pollution on land and at sea.
News Online
A majority of college students are already doing it, but it’s worth noting that the manner in which news is obtained impacts the environment. Rather than rely on brick and mortar world editions of newspapers and magazines, a college student can reduce his or her carbon footprint by using digital resources for news, even when accessing magazines and newspapers.
Unplug Chargers when not In Use
Unplugging device charges as well as some other electronic devices and equipment is one of the 101 ways Forbes magazine has identified to save money and, in some cases, lessen the negative impact on the environment. While this might seem like a minuscule lessening of a carbon footprint, over time even this simple tactic can have an appreciable favorable impact on the environment. This particularly is the case when unplugging is undertaken by hundreds, if not thousands, of students at a particular college or university.
In the final analysis, as more and more college students adopt at least some if not all of these strategies, institutions of higher education will become powerful forces in improving the overall health of the environment. Over time, the carbon footprint of college students will continue of the trajectory of becoming smaller and smaller.
