A guide on how students can be more environmentally friendly

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Photo by Cecilia Saltzman

Sophomore Anna Zucconi drinks from her reusable water bottle. Taking care of the environment is important to her, so she lowers her waste by using a reusable bottle. “My water bottle reduces plastic use in the environment which makes me feel like a better person,” Zucconi said.

As climate change becomes a growing concern, many students wonder what they can do to help the earth. We can all make a difference to slow down climate change and keep our earth green. Here’s how you can help:

Join a club that focuses on the environment
School clubs can help keep our earth healthy through volunteering, campaigns and other events. At WJ, the Go Green Club holds events where students can earn SSL hours while working to slow climate change.

Use less paper
In many classes, students can make a choice between doing their assignments on paper or on the computer. In the US, a typical school will use over 320,000 sheets of paper each year. When given the choice to cut down on your use of paper, choose to work on the computer.

Delete junk email
Believe it or not, excess emails can be bad for the environment because of the energy required to send and store them. Delete unnecessary emails and unsubscribe from mailing lists to reduce your carbon footprint.

Switch to a reusable water bottle
Reusable water bottles can be purchased almost anywhere and help cut down on the excessive use of plastic water bottles. Americans who use reusable water bottles save an average of 156 plastic bottles every year. There are a lot of great brands out there, for example, Yeti and Hydro Flask.

Turn off lights
Although it may seem obvious, according to a survey conducted by Lutron Electronics, 90 percent of Americans say that when leaving their house, someone in their household leaves a light on. Turning off the lights when you leave for school can save lots of energy and money.

Go strawless
Cutting down on the use of straws helps the environment immensely since most straws aren’t able to be recycled. If going 100 percent strawless doesn’t work for you, opt for a reusable option like this.

Carpooling
If you are a sophomore or junior, you probably have a friend who just got their license. Riding with them to school instead of driving alone is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and save gas money.

Simple changes to your everyday life can help the environment continue to thrive. I hope you take some of these tips into consideration when thinking about how you can support our planet.

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