By Audrey Smith
There is often a choice we have to make as students: convenience over sustainability. Even so, many students still want to have more sustainable habits, but are often prevented from doing so because they find some sustainable methods to be too time-consuming or overly expensive, making sustainability far from reach.
To help bring sustainability into students’ lives in a more realistic, attainable way, the following are four actions we can do as Ohio State students that support sustainability, involve no cost, and do not require large commitments.
1. Donate used furniture to Furniture Bank of Central Ohio
Let’s say it’s move-out day–whether you are on or off campus– you are guaranteed to see trash bins and dumpsters overflowing with discarded furniture. Rather than end up in a nearby landfill, this furniture could be donated and given a second home with Furniture Bank of Central Ohio.
Furniture Bank is a local non-profit that aids Columbus families in need–most of whom recently experienced financial or personal hardships– by helping them fully or almost fully furnish their new homes. Furniture Bank organizes the pick-up of large furniture items, so all you have to do is fill out the ‘request pickup’ form on their website for a pickup time. Sustainability is just a few clicks away for your next move-out day!
2. Seek classes that involve sustainability project opportunities
We’re students–the majority of our time is spent in the classroom, so there’s no better place to spark sustainable change. If you can tailor a project to revolve around sustainability efforts, go for it! These opportunities can be found in a range of classes, not just environmental science.
For example, in the halls of Fisher College of Business, MBA students are designing business models for Furniture Bank of Central Ohio that focus on cutting costs as well as diverting Furniture Bank’s waste that goes into landfills.
Jacob Theodor, a current MBA student, is working with his group to strategize partnerships that will reuse or upcycle the donations Furniture Bank does not use. Just a few of their suggested partnerships include antique stores, firefighting houses, local interior design companies, Green Columbus, and Clothing Bin USA. They are also reaching out to local and national recycling companies and contacting business representatives from Synergy Ohio to help form recommendations and projections.
Throughout this work, Theodor and his group mates use their background in business to their advantage.
“We see things from a business viewpoint,” said Theodor. “We can see the throughput of customers is high, and there is a lot of waste that is inherent to the business model [of Furniture Bank].
Projects such as this one take our work and specialized knowledge as students outside of the classroom to result in concrete impacts on sustainability efforts on campus and in the surrounding Columbus area. As the next semester approaches, look at your upcoming classes’ syllabi to see how you can bring sustainability to your next project.
3. Bring your own reusable cup to campus
The popularity of Hydro Flasks and Stanley cups is seen all around campus, continuing the trend of reusable water bottles that began years ago. However, did you know if you bring a reusable cup to campus, you are able to get free or discounted drinks?
At all campus coffee shops, if you bring your own cup to use, you will receive a small discount on your drink purchase.
Also, according to @studentlifeosu on Instagram, if you bring your own reusable cup to campus, you can fill it for free at any Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on campus. Most of these machines are housed within dining hall locations, which require a meal swipe to enter; however, the Union Market in the Ohio Union houses a machine and does not require a swipe to enter.
4. Compost food waste using campus-provided bins
Composting is intimidating at first glance because it seems to be a high-maintenance way of being sustainable. Luckily, Ohio State has recently started initiatives that make composting easy and accessible for students. In residence halls, all shared cooking spaces have composting bins, and dorm residents can sign up to receive their own bins to compost in their individual dorm rooms.
If you’re an off-campus student, do not worry– there’s a way for you to compost as well. The Off-campus and Commuter Student Engagement Office is where students can sign up to receive their compost bin and also get information about what campus location to drop off their composted materials at.
If you are interested in getting your own compost bin, you can fill out this form.
It’s the perfect time to make small changes that have big impacts, so try out any, or all, of these four sustainable suggestions today!