As the new academic year begins, so does a fresh wave of overconsumption. Students can be seen walking around the university with disposable water bottles, endless overflowing glass bins are on display post parties, and the latest fashion trends are on show around campus.
I am guilty of all of this, and for me the list goes on. However, this year I’m hoping to reduce my impact to save money and feel better about my environmental impact. Here are the strategies I’m adopting to make a difference:
Fast Fashion
Trend cycles are shortening to the point that something can now be trendy for less than a month before it goes out of style.
This is drastically increasing the rate that fast fashion is purchaced, with weekly hauls and endless parcels being delivered.
It is easy to get sucked into buying the latest sambas or Stanley cups. University social events lead to frequent purchases of cheap costumes for one time use, often last-minute Amazon deliveries, which usually end up in the bin after a heavy night in Switch.
However, there’s a more sustainable alternative! Charity shops along Portswood high street can often provide you with exactly what you need for a Wednesday night.
This year I’ve begun selling my old clothes on Vinted, which has helped me to both reduce my waste and provide me with a much-needed student side-hustle.
From using sustainable websites such as Depop or Vinted to looking around local charity shops, there are several great ways to prolong the life of clothes whilst keeping up with trends.
Reducing Food Waste
The UK wastes roughly the equivalent of 15 billion meals a year, with studies showing that the average student in the UK spends £5 per week on food that ends up being thrown away.
At Southampton University, campus food waste is sent for anaerobic digestion, broken down to generate electricity, heat, or fertilizer.
This reduces our environmental impact as a university, however, once taking a quick look around Portswood it is evident that food bins are non-existent outside student houses.
Here are some ways to save money and make more of an individual impact:
- Make more batch meals that can be frozen, lessening the likelihood of food expiring
- Donate any unwanted food to foodbanks
- Download food waste reduction apps such as ‘Too Good to Go’, that allows users to buy surplus food for discounted prices, reducing waste and providing a cheap alternative for students
Campus Initiatives
There are many initiatives set up on campus to reduce individual impacts as well as the overall university impact. The University has a sustainable strategy to achieve net zero by 2030 by switching to ‘renewable energy sources’ and ‘de-carbonizing sources of heat’.
On an individual level, participation in lower-level activities will still have an impact:
- Black out: this is the big ‘Switch-off’ at the university, where students are recruited to go around campus and turn off all electronics for a night. There are many appliances that are constantly on at the university, and this not only saves a lot of power for one night per year, but also helps to raise awareness of energy waste on campus for the rest of the year.
- Bringing reusable cups to the student union areas not only reduces waste of single use items but also saves you money as there is a £1 discount applied.
Starting a new year at university can be very overwhelming and it can seem necessary to come equipped with all the latest supplies, fashion, and a fridge full of food. However, in the long run it saves a lot of money to be conscious about waste and to avoid overconsumption.
