Many college students are eco-minded individuals who want to lead sustainable lives. But the challenge to live sustainably can be daunting, especially for those on limited incomes.
As a college student myself, I have been faced with this challenge for the past four years. Let me share some tips with you for how I made sustainable choices that also saved me money. Couponing.about.com has some great additional ideas that I will also share.
1) Buy used textbooks whenever possible. Used textbooks can be found at your campus bookstore, Amazon, Ebay or Half Price Books. Also check out Facebook to see if there is a specific page set up by students at your university to buy and sell textbooks from their classmates.
Renting is also another viable, green option.
And be sure to sell your books back to your campus bookstore or to Amazon at the end of the semester if you don’t intend to use the book again.
2) Walk to campus if you can. Save yourself the money for an on-campus parking permit (which typically runs about $100 per semester) and give yourself the exercise you need by walking to campus. If you’re like me and don’t live close enough to campus to walk, park your car in a parking zone on a city street off campus and walk a couple of blocks to campus.
3) Buy basic clothing rather than what’s trendy. It will cost you less, and you can wear it for more than one season. You can find lots of great stuff at secondhand stores such as Goodwill, such as these two shirts:
4) Shop Craigslist or Goodwill for furniture and other household items needed for your dorm, apartment or house.
5) Another blog, called Just Ask Asa, suggests using reusable plates, cups and shopping bags, rather than disposable paper and plastic ones, to reduce waste and to save money in the long run.
These are some of the ways I and many others have tried to live a frugal and green life in college.
How have you saved money while living green in college or as a young adult?
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