Zero-waste lifestyle tips for students

July 25, 2024

Living zero-waste as a student might sound challenging. But if you approach it in a playful spirit, it can be a fun way of learning interesting and useful life skills, saving money and minimizing your environmental impact. If you ever find yourself overwhelmed with assignments, LastMinuteWriting.com offers a reliable write my essay last minute service, ensuring you stay on top of your academic responsibilities while maintaining your eco-friendly habits. This post offers tips and hacks to make almost any area of student life less wasteful, and to help you develop a zero-waste mindset that will help you throughout your life – at uni and beyond.

Zero-Waste Living
Before I get to the ‘hows’, what, exactly, is zero-waste living? A zero-waste lifestyle is one in which nothing goes to landfill, as little as possible gets used, as much as possible gets reused, as little as possible ends up in recycling, and what cannot be reused gets composted. It is about thinking carefully about what we do all day every day to minimize waste and maximize resource use.

For students, a zero-waste lifestyle can have a lot of advantages. It supports the environment, but, more importantly, it can also save a tremendous amount of money (something all students will appreciate) and foster creativity and improvisation skills, which can be in one's career. 

Sustainable Studying Habits
The main cause of waste for the students is for studying supplies like textbooks, notebooks, pens, tuition sheets, etc. As we are in the school semester for six months, it could generate a lot of waste. But there are many ways to reduce waste and increase your Sustainability.

Buy your textbooks on a tablet or an e-reader. Many textbooks are available as e-books, and there are obvious benefits both for reducing paper consumption and for reducing the weight in your backpack. If you prefer a real book more than digital, seek out used versions of textbooks, or even go to places that rent textbooks. After you are done with the textbook, sell it back or donate it to another student.

For note taking, go for refillable notebooks, or hand-writing apps on your phone or computer. If you like to write by hand, buy recycled paper notebooks, and refillable pens with an aluminum shell (rather than the ubiquitous single-use plastic pens). Buy pens with replaceable ink cartridges.

Where possible, complete assignments electronically. Print only when necessary, using both sides of the paper and reducing your margins to fit more text on each page. This small change can save a lot of paper over the course of your degree.

Eco-Friendly Dorm Living
Home is another place where you can drastically reduce waste. Start by clearing out the clutter, and keep only what you actually need. This reduces waste, while also making your home cleaner and more comfortable.

Adopting a zero-waste lifestyle helps students save money and reduce their environmental impact, and when academic pressures mount, the best essay writing service for students can provide much-needed support to stay on track. Source all your furniture and objects for your dorm room from second-hand stores or from materials that are biodegradable or came from sustainable new posters and decorate with hand-made fixtures from recycled natural or organic substances like plants.

Last but not least: plants. Having a plant or two in your room can improve air quality and can also organically take care of scraps of small food, such as compost. Have a small herb garden – it’s pretty, it’s useful, and can also reduce waste. 

Replace disposable cleaning wipes and paper towels with reusable rags and mops, and make your own cleaning products from vinegar, baking soda and similar basic ingredients. This will greatly reduce the amount of plastic trash from cleaning product bottles that goes into landfills and, usually, also saves money, while being safer and more effective than commercial products.

Sustainable Food Choices
For many students, food is one of the biggest sources of waste in their lives. From takeout containers to groceries that go bad, there is plenty of room for improvement in this area. The first step is to plan meals so that you do not overbuy food and produce waste. Second, master cooking at home using whole foods instead of processed foods. Whole foods cook faster and are healthier than processed foods, and you will not produce as much waste packaging as you would with processed foods.

If shopping for groceries, bring reusable bags, including produce bags; avoid excess packaging or buy in bulk whenever possible (some stores will now let you bring your own containers to buy in bulk).

But if you have days when you’re on the go and can’t sit down to eat, always bring a reusable water bottle, coffee cup, and food container: often, the best way to avoid waste is to have it on you, just in case. 

If you have a meal plan, eat mindfully in order to prevent food waste. Many college cafeterias now offer reusable to-go containers – take advantage of these programmes.

Zero-Waste Personal Care
Personal care products are a big part of the waste stream. There are many alternatives to single-use plastic containers of liquid soap in the bath or shower. Switch to bar soap. Shampoo and conditioner bars are available, or refills might be offered in your supermarket. For skincare, buy products in glass jars – even better, make your own simple skincare products with natural ingredients.
Switch to a safety razor with replaceable blades rather than disposables; buy a menstrual cup, a reusable sanitary towel, or other reusable period products rather than disposables. You’ll save money and reduce waste at the same time.
Another daily source of waste is toothbrushes. Opt for bamboo ones, or at least one that has replaceable heads. For toothpaste, toothpaste tablets are an option that can be stored in a refillable container.

Sustainable Transportation
When planning transportation, learning how to walk or bike will greatly reduce your waste production. In addition to being zero waste, these methods are good for the heart and can save you money.
Travel longer distances by using public transport or carpooling with friends. Most campuses offer bike- or car-sharing programmes, using these instead of owning a personal vehicle.
When you do have to drive, adopt eco-friendly habits like keeping tire pressure high and avoiding idling – not only will they reduce your carbon footprint, but they’ll also save you money at the petrol pump.

Dealing with Unavoidable Waste
Some wastage is inevitable no matter how hard you try to get it down. The trick is to deal with it sensitively. Get to know what can and can’t be recycled by your campus and your local council. Often, items that aren’t accepted by your curbside recycling will be accepted by specialized recycling programs. For instance, many stationery shops will take used ink cartridges.

For food waste? If your campus or community has a composting programme, take advantage. Otherwise, start a small compost bin in your dorm room or apartment: there are lots of compact, odor-free options.

Always remember that, above all else, recycling is a last resort. The ethos of zero-waste living is to reduce and reuse first and then recycle what you absolutely can’t reuse. 

Spreading the Zero-Waste Message
But as you start your zero-waste journey, you’ll likely be inspiring others in your orbit. Share your experience with friends and classmates. Start a zero-waste club on campus, or organize clothing swaps or zero-waste workshops.

Share your zero-waste tricks and stories on social media. Not only that, it transmits the message and helps get you in touch with other people who might share your interests and a community to help you with your resolutions. 

Think: this is a process – treat yourself, and others, kindly: you are transitioning; one step at a time, one day at a time. Enjoy your victories, and allow yourself to revel in them; and do your best not to be hard on yourself when things don’t go as planned. A zero-waste kitchen is in your future.

Balancing Zero-Waste and Student Life
But don’t forget that the biggest thing you can do as a student currently is to study! Going zero-waste might be a lovely life goal, but you should achieve your study goals first. Or balance your studies with what you can do to reduce waste. 

Take small steps and build from there. Carry a reusable water bottle and shopping bags at all times. Why not? You’ll feel good about yourself, and it’s not too much to start with. Do it for a while, and then pick up another practice. Carry a reusable coffee cup, too? Or try package-free personal care items?

Don’t beat yourself up if you do again create some trash. We’re aiming for forward movement, not perfection. What might be a small action today might be a major step in the months and years to come. And if you struggle to embrace the zero-waste lifestyle, at least you are trying – and the effort makes a difference. 

Looking Ahead: Zero-Waste Beyond College
So remember, zero-waste living is not trash-free living: the same attitude that makes you consider what goes into your garbage can make you rethink your impact on the world and help you make deliberate choices. Whether you’re into sewing your own mesh produce bag to buy a peach, or you’re forking out $100 for the Space Grey iWatch, the skills you are building through zero-waste living – creativity, ingenuity, mindfulness – will serve you wherever you go.