How to Become More Environmentally Responsible

Although being eco-friendly demands a bit of effort, it's important to do what you can to decrease your impact on this world. In order to do this, there are some easy things you can try at home and in school, or really wherever you go.

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The first step is to change some daily habits that you may have adopted. There are a lot of easy things you can do at home. For instance, whenever you leave a room, make sure to turn off the lights; this will save a lot of energy (and money) which would otherwise have been wasted. Another thing you could try to do is to save water. Here are some suggestions on how you can do that: you can close the tap when you're brushing your teeth, you can turn the water off whenever you wash yourself in the shower, you can take less time to apply soap to your hands... and many other things. By these I don't mean that you should reduce your hygiene standards, these simple steps are just there to decrease your (sometimes unnecessary) use of water. Personally, I don't think that any of these suggestions are unreasonably difficult: it's just a question of making it an automatic gesture.

Every week, or two weeks, when it's time to go to the store for groceries, look out for some things. First, when considering the purchase of a product, take into account the amount of plastic it's wrapped in. If the product is something like a plastic bag which holds several foods wrapped in additional plastic, try to look around for an alternative product which has less plastic. Remember that the likelihood of your litter ending up on the streets, in the environment, is increased when you buy more plastic. Moreover, if you're standing in the fruits and vegetables section of the store, try to spot the foods that come from the same country you're in, or a nearby country; the products that have to be imported from the other end of the world always have a higher ecological footprint. Also, try to favor products with biological labels, like "Agriculture biologique", and products that are certified as "fair-trade". The "agriculture biologique" label indicates that your chosen product has been cultivated organically and products that are "fair-trade" aim to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions. In essence, aim to limit your plastic purchase, and choose foods that are in the "bio" section of the store.

As you may or may not know, our school aims to reduce its environmental impact in many ways, but this can never be achieved properly without your help. All around the school campus, you will be able to see bins of different colors; those colors are there to help you sort your trash and throw it away correctly. The yellow bins are for paper or cardboard, the blue ones are for plastic bottles (there are even some blue ones made out of cardboard inside the buildings), and the red trash ones are for everything that's not paper, plastic, compostable or aluminium. These last two categories are primarily found in/ outside the cafeteria. The green bins are for everything that you can eat, but also all of the containers and napkins that are given to you in the cafeteria. Now that you know this, make sure to throw your trash into the proper bin. The school also has a "no single use plastic" policy, which means that you can't bring any plastic wrappers or other plastic things to school. In addition, if you need a water bottle at school, use a reusable one! Not a plastic bottle.

Furthermore, there's the issue of transportation. How do you get to school every morning? Do you take the car, the bus, the tram? Do you bike to school? Do you walk? If you take the car, is it because there's absolutely no other way for you to get to school? If there is, I strongly encourage you to start taking public transportation; that way you might be able to meet up with your friends, to use the time to read, or just to enjoy a moment of reflection. Taking the car, especially if there are only two people in it, result in an increased carbon footprint. If you do need to take the car, try to join the Car Free Friday initiative: it happens every week. Additionally, there are many advantages to biking to school or to using public transport: "biking to school is a great physical activity that reduces your stress and improves your overall health", "biking to school releases almost no CO2 or other air pollutants allowing you to breathe fresh air", "biking to school is a lot cheaper than buying a car and the fuel it needs, as well as often being more time convenient" and "using public transport to get to school allows you to catch up on homework, sleep or read a good book".

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As you can see, the small changes you can make to your every day lifestyle don't require that much effort and demonstrate that you're aware of your environment and that you really care. I mean, is it really that hard to make these tiny changes? Show that you care!

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Written by: Juliane