Living Green for a Healthier You
By Tara Haelle, graduate student, The University of Texas at Austin
The green movement is going strong on college campuses, and many students are finding ways to go green and get healthy.
Jake Hildebrandt, instructor of Advanced Industrial Integrated Technology at Madisonville Community College in Kentucky, sees a strong green movement on his campus where students are encouraged to bike to school, recycle, and participate in campus cleanups. “A cleanup is good for your physical health because you’re outside and active,” he says. “It’s also good for your mental health because you feel like you’re accomplishing something and bonding with others for a good cause.”
The school recently purchased five wind turbines and a solar energy system, which will be used to teach students about sustainable energy. “Students have a strong interest in this technology, but they don’t understand it,” says Hildebrandt.
As a commuter school, Austin Community College (ACC) in Texas strives to reduce automobile congestion, and it has made progress by encouraging students to bike to school and by giving all students a free bus pass.
Jason Shaw, a student at ACC and the co-chair of the Renewable Energy Student Association, tries to use public transportation whenever he can. It not only conserves energy, but it keeps him moving. Living in Texas, where water can be scarce, this 40-year-old homeowner has done his part to conserve by installing low-flush toilets and replacing his lawn with zoysia grass, which is very drought-tolerant. Shaw has also put energy-efficient light fixtures in his home.
“Living green gives me a positive feeling that even translates into being more motivated to exercise more and eat healthier,” he says.
Students like Chennin Windsor, a student at the Art Institute of Portland in Oregon, ride their bikes as much as possible, keeping the earth green and their bodies lean. "Riding my bike not only cuts down on carbon emissions, it also keeps me in shape, lets me breathe fresh air, and connects me to the world around me," says Windsor.
Two years ago, ACC hired Andy Kim to be its director of Environmental Stewardship to maximize its green efforts. The school has installed water-saving plumbing fixtures and a water bottle refilling station, which has cut down on the number of store-bought water bottles on campus. Students here can also join Students for Environmental Outreach and participate in efforts to make the campus greener.
Give the Electronics—and Yourself—a Rest
Reducing the amount of time you spend watching the tube or using your computer—even by a manageable 15 to 30 minutes a day—can also make a difference for the environment.
Keep appliances like these unplugged when you’re not using them to save even more energy and a bit on your electric bill. Electronics that are not in use can still suck up power when they’re plugged in. (They’re often called “energy vampires.”)
Turning off power strips when not in use can stop the leaking electricity that can account for up to 20% of home electrical use, according to Team Massachusetts. This group of students from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell has researched a variety of ways to go green in residence hall rooms. Team Massachusetts also recommends consulting a site like EPEAT.net, a global registry for greener electronics, before buying your next electronic device and using eco-friendly bedding made from organic products. To find out more, CLICK HERE.
Waste Not, Want Not
Of course, one of the simplest ways to reduce your impact on the environment, cut costs, and improve your health is to examine your daily routines closely and switch to reusable products with more natural ingredients and fewer chemicals. Avoid using disposable products like paper plates and plastic silverware, and bring cloth bags to the grocery store. Save a few trees by sending in homework and papers via e-mail and reading your news and magazines online.
Find small ways to reduce your water usage, and watch your water bill plunge: Take shorter showers (with a low-flow showerhead) and fewer baths; do your laundry or wash the dishes only when you have a full load; wash your hair less and use less water for brushing your teeth.
Reduce your energy usage by using compact fluorescent bulbs and keeping the thermostat a little warmer in the summer and a little cooler in the winter. Or turn off the air conditioning and let in the fresh air. This can reduce the likelihood of getting a cold or allergies from a constantly running air conditioner.
These activities will improve your mental health when you realize how much money you can save and how much you’re contributing to a better future world.
“If we want to sustain our existence, we will have to make difficult decisions in regards to our food production, water usage, and overall consumption,” says Olivia Chadha, a professor of environmental writing at the University of Colorado–Boulder. “It also just so happens that conservation fattens your wallet. Save some energy, conserve water, ride the bus, and you will be wealthier for it in more ways than one.”
TARA HAELLE IS A GRADUATE JOURNALISM STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
Watch What Your Eat
One of the biggest ways to make healthy choices while reducing your impact on the environment is to eat wisely.
“There are a lot of things in processed foods that I don’t even know what they are, but I don’t want to put them in my body,” says Taylor-Hoar, who buys plenty of fruits and vegetables at farmer’s markets and buys whole wheat flour, rice, oatmeal and other products in bulk, which she says is cheaper than buying processed goods. “It’s better for the environment because it uses less energy to process all the food products and make them into this hunk of white bread or whatever it is you’re eating,” she says.
Taylor-Hoar added that processed goods are also usually packaged in more plastic and cardboard. Skipping the vending machine—loaded with over-packaged, processed goods, often high in sugar, fat, sodium or all of the above—is better for your diet and for the environment. The same goes for fast food restaurants, where you often get as much paper and plastic goods as you do food.
“Even when you take extra napkins at the salad bar, it adds up to waste if you don’t use them,” says Olivia Chadha, a professor of environmental writing at the University of Colorado–Boulder. Chadha also recommends using a fabric sandwich wrap instead of plastic baggies, which has the added benefit of reducing your food’s exposure to any of the chemicals that may leak from the plastic. Scientists are only beginning to discover what kinds of chemicals leak from plastics, and although the studies are in their infancy, it doesn’t hurt to err on the side of caution.
Windsor, the biker from the Art Institute in Portland, says her decision to be a vegetarian benefits both her health and the environment. “Being vegetarian not only keeps my blood pressure down, keeps me hormone-free, and keeps me living a compassionate lifestyle, it also cuts down the worlds meat consumption,” she says.
While it’s not necessary to give up all meat if it’s an important part of your diet, even cutting back a little—especially on beef—can make a big difference. A 2006 report from the United Nations found that current production levels of meat contribute between 14% and 22% of the world’s greenhouse gases each year. When Scientific American magazine did the math using this study, they found that producing half a pound of hamburger releases as much gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000 pound car almost 10 miles.
Ionnie McNeill, who graduated in accounting from Howard University in Washington, D.C., last May, is part of a student initiative to create an organic vegetable garden on campus for all students. With the university’s Society of Holistic Living and Meditation, McNeill and other students want to expose students to the experience of growing their own food for a healthier and greener lifestyle.
“From growing your own food, you develop a connection to the food, a bond to the food. You’re nurturing it, and you see the fruits of your labor literally,” she says. “You’re able to enjoy the food much more, not to mention the benefits it has for you in terms of health.”
Kick the Habit: Stopping Smoking Can Help the Environment
Nearly everyone has some habit they can break to improve the health of their body and the environment. For some, smoking is a top culprit.
“This is a really good issue on which environmental activists and thinkers and people who are interested in public health can join up and reduce the impact of smoking,” says Dr. Tom Novotny, a professor of global health in the Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University in California. Novotny has been studying the environmental impact of cigarette butts, which account for 28% to 38% of the waste picked up during community clean-ups across the country in terms of the number of items collected.
“Smokers consider it part of the ritual to stomp their butts on the ground, but that flows into the watershed and storm drains and into the streams and oceans,” Novotny says. “I don’t think people have an appreciation for that, and there hasn’t been any science on what the environmental impact has been.”
Novotny has been working on that science and found that just one cigarette butt in a liter of water kills half the fish in that water. He says the nonbiodegradable plastic filters cause enough damage to qualify as toxic waste when the vast numbers of them—about 380 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in the U.S.—are taken into account.
If you’re not a smoker, perhaps you drink a lot of soft drinks. Loaded with sugar, preservatives and additives, soft drinks offer no health benefits but require energy to be produced, even if the can is recyclable. Trade your coke for water, but keep it in a refillable BPA-free bottle or aluminum container so you’re not contributing to the flood of plastic bottles that fill landfills and oceans and you’re protecting yourself from the chemicals that can leak out of the plastic.
Todisco, the green living expert, also recommends breaking the habit of burning perfume-scented candles or using air fresheners. These artificial products release chemicals into the atmosphere that contribute to greenhouse gases while often agitating people’s allergies, asthma and similar health problems.
“They mask your ability to smell the offending odors, but they don’t clean the air,” she says.
Todisco recommends burning beeswax, which is cheaper since it burns for longer, and using pure essential oils and natural potpourris in bowls around your room and bathroom. She also suggests exchanging many brand-name cleaning products for natural alternatives, such as distilled white vinegar and baking powder. This cuts down on the fumes released into the air and into your body when you clean.