Items to Reduce Waste as a College Student

It's trickier to go green when everything is offered to you in paper or plastic.

Students on the academic campus quad at Simmons University in Boston.

Hello, everyone! There's no denying that living in a dorm room makes certain things a little harder. Doing laundry, cooking and being green- just to name a few.

I'm no exception. After commuting for two years, I've moved to campus for my last semester. My family tries to live as green as possible; reusing shopping bags, recycling, reusable water bottles.

I'm going to list a few things to integrate into your daily, busy lives are young people on-the-go.

1. Adopt reusable cups

While most of us have them, we tend to forget them in the mornings rushing out to class. I know as devout as I am to my YETI cup, I leave him behind in the midst of grabbing my laptop charger, notebooks, etc. At many campuses, there are Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Peet's, what have you and they'll hand you your beverage in a plastic cup. Yeah, it's convenient. But I implore you to bring your own cups. Not only is this eco-friendly, it's wallet-friendly. Dunkies will give you a discount if you bring your own cup or mug, but I can't find the exact amount on their website. Be more direct, Dunks! But every time I go with my own cup, I get some kind of price reduction and my sister who works there assured me there is one. Starbucks offers a $.10 discount when you bring one of their cups, a competitor's or your own. Wherever you get your coffee, just ask what their policy is on it! So simple. A lot of consumers feel okay about the single-use paper cups (the ones hot beverages come in), but the truth is, those can't be recycled. Because the outside is paper and the inside has a plastic lining, recycling centers can't separate the two and these cups end up in landfills. The only way to recycle cups like these is to send them to specific centers.

2. Get on those reusable shopping bags

Within the last year, you may have heard cities and states are banning plastic shopping bags. Here in Boston, and in many other cities, you have to bring your own bags to grocery shop or pay for single-use ones. The logic behind this is to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags that end up in landfills or the ocean. According to Reuse this Bag, these bags have a 12-minuet lifespan from when they're filled with groceries to when they're discarded. Honestly, my family loves getting new bags with cute designs and patterns on them. Usually, they cost around $.99 and up, depending on the size and where it's from.

3. Tupperware & reusable utensils are your best friends

Ah, yes. Tupperware. The thing we all bring to school and the thing I always forget I have. Just like the reusable cups and bags, the goal here is to cut back on all the single-use plastics campus food tends to come with. Here at Simmons in Boston, we're now able to use reusable containers at certain food stations. Shoutout to the Sustainability Club! Soon, I'm planning on carrying metal utensils with me around.

4. Have heat-safe dishes instead of paper ones

I'm starting to feel a little redundant at this point. Everything I said about not being able to recycle paper cups with plastic linings, same concept here. While some plates are all paper, many come with that plastic coating on top.

Essentially, the key here is REUSABLE MATERIALS. We all forget our cups or containers sometimes and that's okay. But just like anything else, it's about making it a habit. And then making that habit a lifestyle.

Happy reusing!