#Foititips: An eco-friendly life awaits you

Στέφι Ράσκοβα

4 έτη ago

#Foititips: An eco-friendly life awaits you

Based on the original text by Myrto Zara

A small change brings a big one

The eco-friendly life and the so-called “sustainability” are becoming more and more popular and widespread concepts in everyday talks. The alarm bells about the need to live a more environmentally friendly life have started to ring. We must act to protect the planet and prevent the ecological disaster lurking for decades. However, students find it difficult to follow this way of life due to time demands, lack of money and other factors.

In this article, we will discuss some small changes and actions that we can include into our daily lives in order to protect the environment and the humanity.

Eco-friendly life: Shop ethically

Ethical Fashion

The so-called “fast fashion”, i.e. the big brands of clothing stores with degradingly low prices, is really popular in Greece today. Excessive consumption of clothing leaves a huge carbon footprint. Both because of throwing clothes and other waste in landfills, as well as the uncontrolled production of raw materials and their transportation. At the same time, the -often juveniles- workers work under terrible conditions. This creates the illusion that we are saving. While in fact it would be better to invest in timeless clothes of good quality that will not spoil after a few months of use.

In order to contribute in facing this problem, you can prefer smaller and / or Greek industries, with ecological certificate regarding their products. At the same time, the new trend of thrifting, i.e. buying and selling used clothes and other goods, is life-saving. It raises awareness of our consumerism and its effects. So, with thrift shops we can buy products of clothing brands at lower prices.

The “wrapper” counts

Ethical shopping refers not only to clothes. It is important to check for eco-friendly packaging such as paper bags instead of plastic or biodegradable bags. We should prefer reusable shopping bags and food or beverage containers. Checking if the cosmetics and other products we use are cruelty free is essential. Finally, it is extremely important to prefer the local market, in order to reduce pollutants due to the transportation of products and to strengthen the smaller industries. For example, it is better to choose products from the local market or neighborhood’s greengrocery than the imported ones from the supermarket.

The value of recycling

Another small change we can make is to include recycling into our lives. Learning to recycle properly, choosing reusable products:

cloth towels instead of paper ones
washable cleaning cloths
glass or porcelain instead of plastic

and by supporting companies that use recycled packaging we reduce our ecological footprint. It is important to recycle mainly household devices, batteries, medicines and other items that can cause toxic pollutants. Also, we can find various “zero waste” ideas and tips on the internet to make our daily life even eco-friendlier!

Take action individually and collectively

Finally, as students we often have plenty of time, so we can be part of an action regarding the protection of the environment. Participating in some tree planting, cleaning a coast or a forest from garbage. Even when you are on a trip you can collect rubbish and be part of actions against an environmental disaster.

Changing our own lifestyle by avoiding eating meat, collecting rubbish we found during our walk or on the beach, controlling our consumption impulses, switching off the water heater, faucet or lights, when there is no need, we will soon live in a much cleaner and more beautiful environment. Nowadays, an eco-friendlier life is the only way.

Αν επιθυμείς να διεκδικήσεις υποτροφίες στην Ελλάδα ή το εξωτερικό, ο Οδηγός Υποτροφιών του Citycampus που μόλις κυκλοφόρησε σου προσφέρει ό,τι χρειάζεσαι!