In this increasingly environmentally-conscious society, if there is still a college student entirely unfamiliar with the climate crisis in 2024, then they’d better hope the rock they’ve been living under is catastrophe-proof.
Climate anxiety is a common phenomenon, especially among young people, but when the degrading monetary demands of college are coupled with near-offensive price tags attached to “green alternatives,” wondering why one should even bother with a sustainable lifestyle as a student isn’t a radical stance to take.
Despite these disparaging realities, environmentally responsible lifestyle practices in college are truthfully much more accessible than one might think. In many cases, they’re actually cheaper. There are several physical practices and mindset changes students can adopt to lead a more climate-conscious existence that don’t require diving head-first into a pool of inescapable debt for an electric car. The following are just a few.
Dissolving sustainability misconceptions
With climate crisis tensions increasing, discourse involving personal environmental impact is more popular than ever. Today’s internet is rife with declarations of climate change consciousness with trends like TikTok’s “underconsumption trend” taking center stage on the For You Page.
While sustainable practices are always worthy of internet coverage, there is an unsettling sense of financial exclusivity beginning to bloom within this online era of “environmental responsibility” that needs to be addressed.
How on earth is one supposed to juggle tuition payments, shopping carts full of dorm essentials and weekly grocery store trips while also worrying about whether an organic, biodegradable loofah is worth the extra $10?
These kinds of internal debates are what perpetuate the misconception of sustainability being exclusively tied to financial status, and this applies to anyone living within tight economic constraints — not just college students.
When choosing to live a more sustainable lifestyle, it is important to first remember that sustainability is a loaded word that has become abused in the age of capitalist “green-washing,” much like other common environmentalist terms.
Wealthy corporations are pivotal antagonists of the climate crisis, and giving into the weaponization of “green” marketing ploys only exacerbates the issue. In the spirit of realism, sustainability often simply means doing one’s best to help the planet with the resources available to them.
New things
While controlling the materials one uses for everyday necessities might not be feasible, reducing the amount of waste one produces is. Overconsumption has become an outrageously harmful hallmark of Western society within the last century, and it is one of the primary reasons why a 2015 study found that 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to the production and use of household goods.
Buying new things for one’s first year of college is an obvious requirement most incoming students experience, having never lived independently from their families before. After the first year of college, though, is it truly necessary to buy all new bedding, room decorations and school supplies simply because the old ones are no longer new and exciting? An environmentally responsible student would think otherwise.
Buying new things occasionally will always be necessary to a certain extent. What isn’t necessary is the normalized impulse to replace things that don’t need to be replaced simply because they no longer fit into what is considered popular. The lofty demands of college dorm essentials lists are enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the most financially comfortable families. It’s a lot less pain-inducing when it’s only done once.
Old things
One of the cornerstone aspects of young adulthood is modernity. Society expects young people to be well-versed in the ebb and flow of the trend cycle and technological advancements. In college it’s worse because in addition to understanding trend literacy, one is expected to be knowledgeable about the world around them.
The speed of current trend cycles has fueled overconsumption to a point where it has become a twisted, naturalized impulse in Western society to prioritize flagrant wastefulness over outdatedness.
People have become far too comfortable with replacing perfectly useful things, and in younger generations, this practice is amplified by the peer-fueled expectation to participate in trend culture. Too often, environmentally conscious young people have to face the dilemma of either perpetuating overconsumption or estranging themselves from the activities of their peers.
The best way to break the overconsumption cycle while still participating in trend culture is to thrift and upcycle. Not only do these practices keep objects out of landfills and reject fast fashion, but it’s a much more financially friendly consumption practice for an undergraduate student functioning within an already strained budget. Go to thrift stores, pick up a new skill and turn other people’s rejected consumption impulses into staples that can become sources of personal accomplishment. Dorms and outfits look better when they’re made out of things you take pride in.
Different things
The production and degradation of single-use plastics pollute the earth’s oceans, land and air routinely. Landfills where single-use plastics are sent account for more than 15% of global methane emissions.
Buy the real dishes. Trade paper towels for washcloths and plastic forks for cheap silverware. Even better, thrift them. The reason single-use materials are such staples of the average dorm lifestyle is because they’re convenient. Paper plates, paper towels, plastic utensils and items of the like can be discarded without any afterthought. However, the consequences of using such materials take far longer to unfold than the 10 minutes it takes to wash the dishes.
While some sustainable materials are much more expensive than their harmful, plastic counterparts, others are complete financial no-brainers. Many coffee shops like App State’s own Crossroads and Wired Scholar have personal cup options where your favorite drinks can be made in a reusable container for a lower price.
Simple realistic swaps for single-use items in college life are everywhere. They might take a little extra work, but they are more sustainable and wallet-friendly in the long-run.
Personal responsibility mindset
The majority of today’s college students are some of the youngest of all living adults. Today’s students are the adults who will spend the most time witnessing and responding to the climate crisis as of right now. They are the ones that have the most opportunity to improve things, since in our global crisis domino effect, time has a positive relationship with problem multiplication.
College students today are the vessels through which older generations place their hope for the future. Whether this is fair is another issue — whether their hopes are fulfilled, though, is not. The choices we make today impact everyone, including future generations and people living elsewhere on the planet not responsible for the crisis in the first place. Knowing this is the key to not repeating the mistakes of past generations.
The response a person chooses when confronted with the knowledge of the climate crisis defines their ability to improve the problem. The response also inadvertently defines the ways in which others choose to react. Guilt is an intrinsic part of climate change literacy, but hopelessness is not. While natural, guilt is not an excuse to turn to ignorance out of fear. Choosing to do better costs nothing.
Constructing sustainable lifestyle habits while young and independent will create passageways for lifelong repetition. Being a part of the change transcends the financial limitations of college life. It transcends a great number of personal limitations, actually. Knowledge comes with inherent responsibility, and positive change is contagious. In the face of global degradation, passivity cannot be an option.
Choosing to do better in this moment is the most important and impactful thing a student or person in a place of any sort of privilege can do. It is quite literally the hardest part in choosing hope over hopelessness. The most essential practice of any sustainable lifestyle is knowing that personal responsibility matters. It matters more than anything else.
