Most students aren’t “tree huggers,” insisting that people must banish toilets in the name of “humanure.” We also don’t demand the boycott of companies that do not use biodegradable products. However, college students can do certain things to decrease our individual ecological footprints. Reducing, reusing and recycling are really not as labor intensive as people might think.
Although I do not consider myself an environmentalist, I abhor trashing things that can be recycled, such as the large plastic bags that freshly dry-cleaned clothes come in. A few months ago, I had a part-time job babysitting three rambunctious children who seemed to be on a mission to destroy the interior of my car. That was when I had the idea to solve two problems at once, and I converted my mountain of dry-cleaning bags into cheap chair covers for my car. For a while, it worked well, but, like all good things that come to an end, I had to leave my job, and the bags started to pile up at my house again.
I then figured that a dry-cleaning bag was the same as a regular trash bag and could be recycled. But, a few minutes of web surfing proved that it was just too thin to be recycled. Out of options, I called the Town of Davie and was connected with Gay Moo-Young, who handles the city’s recycling issues, to find out if there was some inside scoop I was missing.
Moo-Young said, “Unfortunately, the recycling system here in Florida has not been developed as much as in places like Toronto that even collect organic waste. So, we are still unable to recycle quite a few things.”
Sadly for me, that meant that I was stuck using my dry-cleaning bags as trash bags for the time being. Nevertheless, Moo-Young did give me a wealth of information and tips about recycling that won’t leave us stuck with soap suds in our eyes because shower time is up.
Half is better than none
Coffee sleeves, the previous issue of your favorite magazine, cereal boxes, mailing boxes and even egg cartons can all be recycled when broken down. Believe it or not, you can also recycle pizza boxes. It’s common for the rest of the garbage to be sorted while the pizza box is left out in the rain — sometimes literally. Moo-Young said that if the top of the box is grease free, pizza lovers can tear the tops off for recycling. This can also be done for food containers made of the same material.
Water is liquid gold
Most people have already heard the tips about turning the tap off when lathering during your already shortened showers, brushing your teeth, scrubbing dishes, etc., so there’s no point in repeating the same things. But, one rarely considered tip involves a trip to the mall. The next time you visit the food court, ask to skip the tray. Opting to not use a tray eliminates one more item that has to be washed with tons of water. Water can also be saved at home by filling a tightly closed bottle with sand or stones and placing it in your toilet’s tank. The bottle serves as a weight and will cause the tank to fill up with a less but still adequate amount of water for the next flush. Excess water from washing fruits and vegetables or leftover ice cubes from drinks can also be used to water plants.
Join the vegan side
Think about all of the energy that is put into just growing the food for these animals and the fuel needed to cart it to them; it adds up. Choose a day during the week to experiment with and experience vegan foods. Of course, meat lovers can always go back to reveling in their carnivorous ways, but it is fun to try something new, and helping the environment is an added bonus.
Let there be energy-efficient light
In addition to switching to energy-efficient appliances such as new televisions, light bulbs and washing machines, don’t neglect to off the light when leaving the room. Energy-efficient light bulbs tend to last three to 25 times longer, “reducing” the long-term cost. Many laptops, tablets and phones, like the HTC M7, have energy saving options that lessen how often the devices have to be charged. Google also powers a search engine called Blackle.com that features a black screen instead of white, which saves energy simply by using a darker color scheme as it requires less energy to display the page.
These are just a few of the countless ways in we can reduce, recycle and reuse everyday items. Recycling does not have to be a chore, nor does reducing mean that one has to live in squalor. Of course, there may be variations on recycling depending on the county that you live in, but Moo-Young insists that all of the counties and towns in South Florida are diligently working to serve the communities. Residents who wish to find out more about recycling can visit their district’s town hall or access their website for more information.
“Recycling is easy, and it’s not as difficult as people think it is to train themselves into the habit. Many people think that one person can’t make a difference, but they really do,” said Moo-Young. “Getting started is simple. All you have to do is ask.”
Photo Credit: Taken by F. Rajkumar
