By DeVry University
April 14, 2023
8 min read
April 14, 2023
8 min read
In recognition of Earth Day 2023, we thought it would be fitting to offer 15 Earth Day tips that can be practiced by college students —or anyone at all!
Earth Day has been celebrated every April 22nd since 1970, and the concept would not have succeeded without the environmental activism of college students across this country, working in partnership with forward-thinking policymakers.
So, with a tip of our hat (made of sustainable fabric, of course) to those who began the movement and everyone doing their part to keep it alive today, here are 15 tips for Earth Day.
Plastic bags from the supermarket can take 10-20 years to decompose.
Every year, an estimated 1.6 million barrels of oil are used to produce plastic bottles.
Once discarded, those plastic bottles can take 450 years to break down.
How can you help break this cycle? When you head out to the gym or the park, fill up a reusable water bottle. Bring your own bags to the supermarket and when you order take-out, ask them to leave out the plastic utensils or save them to use again.
The voluntary Safer Choice program reviews chemical ingredients in all-purpose cleaners like dish soap and laundry detergent for safety to human health and the environment. Products must also meet performance standards, use sustainable packaging, meet pH standards that minimize the potential for skin and eye injury and restrict volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to reduce indoor air pollution.
The Design for the Environment (DfE) certification program evaluates antimicrobial products like toilet bowl cleaners and bathtub disinfectants that meet pesticide registration requirements and DfE-certified Safer Choice standards.
Both programs have online databases that consumers can browse to discover products that meet the criteria for these programs.
Reduced paper waste: Online learning requires much less paper, which uses fewer trees and may help to reduce deforestation. Students attending classes from home may not be living in a completely paperless world, but since they submit their work digitally, the need for paper and all the energy it takes to produce it is greatly reduced.
Reduced pollution: The number of vehicles on the road and all the emissions from those vehicles is greatly reduced if students, faculty and support staff don’t have to drive to and from a centralized campus location several times each week.
Less energy consumption: The reduction in energy consumption could substantially ease the strain on the energy grid and enable educational institutions to redistribute the money they spend heating, cooling and powering huge campus buildings to other services or support measures that would more directly benefit students and their enrichment.
Fair Trade items: The Fair Trade Certified ™ seal on products signifies that items – coffee and tea, apparel, seafood and many more products – are made or grown in accordance with rigorous environmental and social standards.
One Percent for the Planet: When you go shopping, you can indirectly donate to more than 1,200 member businesses of the 1% for the Planet initiative. The participating companies agree to donate 1% of their annual sales directly to environmental nonprofit organizations.
Eco-friendly clothing brands: The fast fashion method of designing, manufacturing and marketing high volumes of clothing has resulted in overconsumption and harm to the environment, garment workers and animals. Eco-friendly clothing brands utilize sustainable production methods and natural, sustainable or recycled materials. Next time you make a wardrobe update, look for brands that are working to clean up the industry and the planet.
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In New York, DeVry University operates as DeVry College of New York. DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.org. The University’s Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. DeVry is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Arlington Campus: 1400 Crystal Dr., Ste. 120, Arlington, VA 22202. DeVry University is authorized for operation as a postsecondary educational institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, www.tn.gov/thec. Naperville Campus: 1200 E. Diehl Rd., Naperville, IL 60563. Unresolved complaints may be reported to the Illinois Board of Higher Education through the online compliant system https://complaints.ibhe.org/. View DeVry University’s complaint process https://www.devry.edu/compliance/student-complaint-procedure.html Program availability varies by location. In site-based programs, students will be required to take a substantial amount of coursework online to complete their program.
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