Bring Your Own Lunch (BYOL)

Lunchtime.  Probably the most anticipated meal of the day for the people who are excited for a break in their day or the people who are simply just hungry.   Most campuses have student unions or other locations nearby where students can purchase their lunch.  Now we all know that food on the go just always tastes amazing, but do we ever stop to think how much waste is created through the consumption of your meal?  More specifically, take-out places typically use Styrofoam or plastic containers and disposable utensils that will be thrown away and sit in landfills for thousands of years.   Also, just think about how much money you spend on lunch each week!

One more benefit to bringing your own lunch from home is that it is a lot healthier than eating out.  When packing your lunch, use reusable containers for items not individually packed, bring a lunchbox instead of a plastic/paper bag, and bring your own reusable utensils instead of disposable ones.  Keep in mind that bringing your own lunch also needs to work for your own convenience too.  So if you can’t ultimately cut out take-out lunches, maybe try to start brining your lunch three times a week instead of five.  It’s up to you to make the change.  Be committed, I guarantee you will feel proud of eating healthier and proud of that extra money you’ll be saving.  

Education Benefits You and the Environment

Happy first day of school!  Now I know when the word school comes to mind you don’t automatically think, FUN… especially because your lazy and relaxing summer is over and you have to wake up early, attend boring classes, and do assignments that take up way too much of your free time.  Yes school is tough and it could be boring, but I just want you to keep in mind the reason why you attend school.  I know each and every student has a goal, whether that is becoming a millionaire or working to help others, there is a passion and a drive somewhere within that smart brain of yours to help you achieve your greatest desires. Therefore, I am going to encourage you to learn to love school. 

So, you’re probably wondering how this EGOlogical “tip” relates to the environment.  Well, education is the key element to saving the environment.  Modernization theorists believe that over time as technology increases, we will come up with new ideas and ways to better society as well as help the environment.  The only way to live up to those expectations is for us to be educated.  Education opens so many doors for each individual and there are many people that don’t have access to those resources.  So instead of claiming that you’re “bored” in class and posting it as your Facebook status, try paying attention because all it takes is a few educational words from a professor that could change your life.  Or maybe instead of whining about how you have to write a seven-page paper due tomorrow and sharing your aggression about it with the rest of the world on Facebook, who I will add probably don’t even care, actually work ahead and be excited to write a paper that you are proud to turn it.  Our future relies on our success and you are the only person with the power to shape and mold your future.  You are smart, beautiful, and intelligent, so stop whining about school and start using your talents to change the world!   

(Check out the "School" topics section to read EGOlogical tips to use throughout your school year!)

Recirculate to Recycle

Loose change: Quarters, dimes, nickels, and beloved pennies.  Most Americans keep coins from previous transactions in their wallet, purse, piggy bank, a cup labeled “Vacation Funds,” or in the cracks of the sofa the coins accidently fell into.  Today, the value of a penny is worth less than the amount of copper it goes into making it and same goes for the nickel.  Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could just recycle pennies and nickels to collect a higher profit?  Unfortunately, the U.S. Mint has the sole permission to melt currency so we would not be able to gain a penny’s true worth by literally recycling it.  However, I am going to encourage you to “recycle” your coins by recirculating them back into the system.  In other words, instead of hoarding your coins around your room, house, car, purse, etc… SPEND THEM! 

This way the U.S. Mint can melt the coins and recycle the metals so they won’t have to extract the costly metals.  If the supply would reduce, the amount of pollution released from the extraction of precious metals, production of the coins, and the transportation of the heavy metals would reduce too.  Also, maybe eventually the U.S. Mint will not have to create as many coins each year since the supply will reduce because people will actually be spending them.

There is an estimated $10 billion in coins throughout the United States sitting in people’s homes.  Not only will this help the environment, it will help your wallet by 1) making it not as heavy because instead of ignoring the coins, you will spend them during cash transactions and 2) you’re spending money that might be ignored for YEARS, so you’re actually richer than you probably thought you were.   If you don’t spend your coins as you go along, gather them in ONE SPOT instead of around the house and take them to a Constar to get cash, gift cards, or donate them to a charity such as the World Wildlife Fund.  Click on the link to find the nearest Constar near you: www.coinstar.com

Just Drink Water

Do you ever have that feeling where you just feel like drinking a nice cold soda or a tasty glass of juice?  Especially since water is just so boring and plain right?  And you want them so badly that if you don’t have anything but water in your home, you may even consider going out and buying them?  Well, I am going to tell you to toughen up and just drink water. 

By choosing water over soft drinks or juices, you are utilizing a resource that comes right from your home in the faucet.  Therefore, you reduce or better yet eliminate the production and consumption of sodas and juices.  For example, a bottle of apple juice involves: growing the apples with harmful pesticides, picking the apples and shipping them to a juicing factory creating harmful air pollution, packaging the product with non-biodegradable plastics or containers that will most likely not be recycled, and shipping a heavy product to store shelves which creates a ton of unnecessary air pollution.  If you simply drink a glass of water instead of a glass on apple juice, you eliminate each of those environmental concerns.  

Not only is drinking water better for the earth, it will greatly help you save money.  If you spend $10 a week on beverages every time you go grocery shopping and you go twice a month, that’s $240 in a year you will save.  And on top of that, eliminating those sugary sodas and juices will also help your health because you won’t be consuming as much sugar and you know for a college student, that’s a key element to leading a healthy lifestyle.  I’m not encouraging you to completely eliminate beverages for they are fine to have once in awhile, just be cautious as to how much you spend on beverages other than water.  So, as simply stated early, just drink water.     

Say NO to "Add a Minute/Thirty Second" Buttons

(I know this post is a little longer than others, but I guarantee this is one of the best ones!) 

A microwave is probably one of the most important appliances in your kitchen.  As I noted in a previous entry, microwaves use less energy than a stove does to heat up or cook an item.  Therefore, they are more environmentally friendly.  I did, however, forget to mention one trick to warming up/cooking in your microwave. Alright, now let’s pretend last night you cooked a delicious meal consisting of spaghetti and meatballs.  You didn’t finish all of it so you put the leftovers in a reusable container (not a plastic bag) and set it in the fridge.  The next night you decide to eat your leftovers and prepare to eat them.  After placing the bowl of spaghetti and meatballs in the microwave, you punch in the desired amount of time you wish to heat up your dish. 

After years of microwave experience, you probably guestimate it will take 2 minutes will do the trick.  Now there were probably a few things going through your mind when you chose 2 minutes as the magical time it will take to heat up your food.  For example you may think that 2 minutes might be a little too much and make your food too hot to eat and enjoy right away, but you didn’t just want to warm it up for only 1 minute and 30 seconds because it may be too cold. 

However, this is when I step in and yell, “WAIT!  STOP RIGHT THERE!”  All our lives we have been accustomed to punching in exact amounts of time in intervals of a minute or thirty seconds.  Some models of microwaves even have buttons that let your “add a minute” or “add thirty seconds” so you don’t have to manually type it in.  Therefore, all you simply have to do is to think beyond that natural instinct and type in a number that you think would heat up your spaghetti and meatballs perfectly.  For example, maybe try putting your meal in for 1 minute and 48 seconds.  Not 1:30 and NOT 2 MINUTES.  Who said the number needs to be rounded to the nearest tenth?  NO ONE!   Another example may be if the box of oatmeal says to cook a bowl of oatmeal for a minute and thirty seconds, maybe try putting it in for 1 minute and 24 seconds.  It will still cook just the same. 

By reducing the amount of time you heat /cook your item in the microwave, the less energy you will be using.  This will reduce the amount of pollution caused by your energy needs and also save you money on your electric bills.  Kitchen appliances use up the most electricity in your home.  Don’t forget, each second adds up!  Be EGOlogical and start using your microwave unconventionally!

Chopsticks vs Fork

Dining out is a treat for most college students on a tight budget.  There are many choices to choose from, but let’s pretend on this particular day you and your friends would like to consume some tasty Asian cuisine.   As your food comes and you reach for your choice of utensils, commonly a pair of bamboo chopsticks may be the desirable choice. 

However, I am going to encourage you not to use chopsticks and to use a fork.  Now I know using a fork at an Asian restaurant is an “American” thing, but it is also more environmentally friendly to use a reusable fork instead of non-reusable chopsticks.  Forks can be washed and reused at the restaurant while the bamboo chopsticks must be thrown away and they cannot be recycled due to the food smothered on them.  If the chopsticks are made of a reusable material then by all means go ahead and use those.  Since the demand will decrease, the supply will decrease as well reducing the toxic environmental production costs.  This tip is also useful for your homes because you don’t want to waste money on bamboo chopsticks when you are going to throw them out once used.  So what are you waiting for?  Grab a fork and enjoy your meal!

Say NO to Plastic Straws

Imagine it’s a busy hot sunny Summer day all day and at the moment, a nice, cold lemonade sounds completely satisfying.  You then proceed to grab a reusable cup, dump some ice into the cup, pour the lemonade into the cup, grab a straw, and sit down, relax, and enjoy.  Now, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a nice beverage, however there was one step in the process you could leave out: Step 4 - Grab a straw.

Straws are made up of plastic that almost 100% of the time will never be recycled.  By not using straws at home, you will be doing a number of things to help the environment including, reducing the amount of pollution made during the production of straws as well as reducing the amount of non-recyclable waste you dump into the landfill.  Not only will this save the environment, it will save you money since you don’t have to buy straws for your home.  Eliminating this cost does not seem like a lot, but over time you could save a lot of money if you are a frequent straw user. 

You can also apply this tip for when you go to restaurants.  If they offer you a straw, simply put it to the side and drink out of the glass.  Some may argue that the glass is dirty, but I promise, the “germs” on the glass are just as bad as the “germs” on the fork you are using or on the table you are sitting at.  Therefore, loose the straw because you’ve got nothing to lose!