EASY STEPS TO BECOMING MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY With the ever-increasing threat of climate change, being environmentally conscious is really important. Here are five easy ways to reduce waste, and improve sustainability in Manchester. Reduce, reuse, recycle
words Shawna Healey
We’ve all been told since we were children to reduce, reuse, recycle, but some find this hard when they’re away from home. Some student halls may have accessible, easy recycling facilities but some, sadly, do not. The first thing to do is look at buying separate recycling bins, which makes it super easy to separate your glass, plastic, and cardboard.
Tap water
Obvious for some, but many people don’t drink water that isn’t pre-bottled in plastic packaging. This love affair with bottled water is not only expensive (up to 500 times more expensive than tap water!), it is also incredibly wasteful. If you strongly dislike tap water then a water filter may be a good option, and buying a reusable water bottle will help reduce your plastic bottle usage! Lower your carbon footprint You may be thinking ‘How do I reduce my carbon footprint?’ - and that’s a good question. ‘Carbon footprint’ is defined as “the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by a person, group or company”. Easy minor changes such as taking showers instead of baths, switching lights off, and monitoring heating and air conditioning help to reduce your personal carbon footprint.
One way to reduce the amount of recycling you need to do is to reduce your waste. There are loads of easy solutions like buying bars of soap to reduce single-use plastic packaging. Reducing consumption of things like soft drinks will not only be healthier for you, but it also decreases waste dramatically. 22
