Save money, save the planet

As students, we are well accustomed to making sacrifices in order to save money. We are used to cutting corners at every opportunity to ensure we have enough cash, even if it is only for next week’s alcohol run. But have you ever considered making sacrifices in order to save our environment?

Our planet is damaged on a daily basis by our excessive consumption. Our daily routines contribute towards greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion, resulting in environmental damage. Perhaps it is time that we remind ourselves of our carbon footprint, and take steps towards a new, environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Think about your average day. You wake up and turn the central heating on. You have a shower, boil the kettle and drive to campus. You use your laptop for the majority of your day, before driving back and cooking your dinner. You relax in your warm house and perhaps even run a hot bath if you’re lucky.

If this is an average day, then it is not just your typical day; thousands of students elsewhere will be doing the same. This is, therefore, a national issue that is damaging our environment.

So, what can we do? Make changes! One of the most immediate changes that we can make is to turn down our heating. It is important to keep warm, especially during the current cold weather that has its grip on the Midlands (in addition to much of the UK), yet this does not necessarily mean having the central heating on for excessive hours.

There are alternative ways to keep warm; wearing extra layers of clothing will provide insulation and ensure that you do not get cold. Not only will this help the environment, but it will also help your wallet – as I’m sure you know by now, gas and electricity bills can be very tough on a student budget!

The changes do not stop there. One of the most effective ways that we, as students, can make changes in order to become more eco-friendly is to utilize public transport. Rather than driving onto campus in your car (a costly method of transport, both environmentally and financially), using Warwick’s bus services, including the number 12 and U1 buses, is a guilt-free way of travelling to and from campus. Or for an even better (and cheaper) alternative, invest in a bicycle to travel and get exercise in the process.

Another important consideration when aspiring towards an environmentally friendly lifestyle is recycling. It is important to be efficient when recycling to ensure that all products that are recyclable are put in the correct bins in order to minimize damage. However, it is not just the recycling of items such as packaging that is important.

Despite the stigma that charity shops often have associated with them, they make it possible to pick up a new item of clothing at a low cost, whilst assisting in the recycling process.

Likewise, instead of purchasing brand new copies of books, take a look on websites such as Amazon or eBay. Websites such as these sell second-hand copies of literature at very low prices, where one sometimes has the luck of finding a book priced as low as £0.01.

For an even more cost-effective alternative, head down to your local library and check out the selection of books available there. At Warwick, we are lucky enough to have a multi-storey library, which is home to more than a million books. This saves purchasing new copies, particularly relevant for those all-too-often over-priced course texts from our annual reading lists!

As you can see, there are many changes that we can make, as a student population, to assist in limiting environmental damage. We can take steps towards an environmentally friendly lifestyle through small changes such as utilizing public transport and minimizing our use of heating, whilst ensuring that we recycle in an efficient manner.

It is evident that there is a strong correlation between energy consumption and financial expenditure, so by improving your lifestyle you will undoubtedly also save money. It does not necessarily involve becoming an ‘eco-warrior’, but in the infamous words of Tesco, ‘Every little helps!’