Sustainable Student Life: Managing Eco-Friendly Cooking at College

Guest Contributor: Georgetown University Student, Diya Gundlapalli

As a vegetarian who didn’t really cook much before I came to college, I found myself struggling my first year with getting enough protein in my meals while also being sustainable – aka not buying tons of protein supplements that are packaged in plastic and probably not that great for me. Now that I have my own kitchen, I’ve found that I’m able to diversify my diet a lot more, but that also means that I have to focus on keeping my cooking as sustainable as possible. After a little over a month, I feel like I’ve found some good ways to make sure that I’m eating well and doing well for the planet!

The first thing that I cut out was plastic bags at the grocery store. The first time I went to stock up my kitchen, I forgot reusable bags and ended up leaving with tons of plastic bags (although don’t worry, I ended up using them as trash bags). One easy thing that I did to remedy this was gather my tote bags in one place and hang them in a common area that I pass by before I leave, serving as a visual reminder to take my reusable bags to the grocery store!

Another thing that I do at the grocery store is try not to buy products that come in single-use plastics. When there is an option, I will go with a glass jar or something similar. This way, I can cut down on having to throw away the plastic once I am done with the product, and I can also repurpose whatever container the food comes in. For example, I have used old containers as Tupperware for leftovers! However, by far my favorite thing to do is use old jars to keep flowers in. My roommate loves having flowers around, so this way, we can have a pop of color in our dorm and sustainably repurpose food containers.

Finally, some places on campus have a place where we can compost our food scraps rather than just throw them away. While this is difficult to do, and I often forget, whenever possible I take my food scraps to a composting bin near my dorm rather than just throwing it away. As I cook, it can be difficult not to instinctively throw everything in the trash – but by being conscious about the amount of waste I’m creating, I’m able to remind myself to keep the food scraps to the side to compost on campus later.

By implementing these few easy steps, I can make even a small difference in the amount of waste that ultimately has a large effect on the health of our planet. Even in a college setting, a few changes to your routine can have a big impact!