Everyone knows students have a limited budget and sustainability sometimes costs more than we can afford. However, there are ways that students can be sustainable with their limited budget and in more ways than you think.
Here’s our top tips for being a sustainable student on a budget.
Learn to cook
This is a really simple one. If you’re one for takeaways, learn to cook some of your favourite meals to reduce the amount of driving delivery drivers do to your door. It might be tiring to cook every night, so bulk-cook and freeze portions.
Not only that, it’ll save you lots of money too.
Shop local and in season
Ipswich has a market on every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It isn’t very expensive to do some shopping there and the fruit and vegetables are all fresh. Buying locally also means that there’s less transportation. Shopping for foods that are in season also reduces the amount of chemicals used, making the overall produce far healthier.
Forget about packaging
Where you can, shop for foods that have no plastic packaging. Lots of fruit and veg don’t need it and while you’re at it, bring your own bags (cloth ones are far more sustainable). You can buy them cheaply from places like Tiger and Amazon.
Reduce your meat intake
For some of us, becoming a vegetarian is an easy choice to make. However, if you can’t face that, save the planet and some money by reducing your meat intake. If you eat meat every day, try substituting half the week with proteins such as beans, lentils and eggs.
Shop second hand
You can find some absolute bargains in second hand shops and we’ve got plenty of them in Ipswich. A friend of mine managed to buy her entire Summer Ball look in second hand stores last year.
If you are looking for something, give them a try and you never know what treasures you might pick up.
Check the ethics
If you really want to buy something new, check the ethics of the product you are buying. Check the location the product was made in and the material that it’s made from; hemp, organic cotton and linen are far more eco-friendly than polyester.
Add new comment