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Are you trying to reduce your waste? Laura from the Circularity committee of Green Office Utrecht has some tips for you, and they all only require some small changes of habit which can be made overtime:

Buy second-hand

Buying second-hand is much less resource-intensive than buying new products, as you are extending the life of things that have already been invested in. We are luckily not short on second-hand shopping options in the Netherlands, and you can look anywhere from vintage shops to kringloops and even Marktplaats to find what you need. If you would like to get more insight on why second-hand shopping should be considered more often, check out this article of ours that was precisely written for this purpose.

Bring your coffee cup with you

Whether it’s in the train station’s kiosk, in the library cafeteria, or at a vending machine... Single-use cups are everywhere and are an easy cheat for when you did not bring your own cup. However, the amount of cups that you use and then throw away right after can really build up overtime. Forget killing two birds with one stone (which is actually a pretty violent saying when you think about it). If you bring your own cup, you would kill 100 cups worth of waste with only one forethought. If you don’t already have a reusable cup made out of sustainable materials such as bamboo or grounded coffeebeans, you can always bring a regular mug from home. Also, bare in mind that a lot of places will give you a discount for bringing your own cup, and this trend is slowly growing.

Shop outside of supermarkets, and bring your own bag!

Think out of the box, because supermarkets use too many of them! Shopping in local markets or greengrocers will likely mean supporting local food chains, which don’t require as much resources to transport food from point A to point B. Furthermore, selllers such as these also don’t use as much packaging when procuring and displaying their products. Consider popping by markets such as the Vredemburg market on Friday and Saturdays, or visiting one of the many produce shops lining Kanaalstraat in Lombok. When you do, don’t forget to bring your trusty tote bag to carry your fruit and veggies back home.

Switch to soap bars to shower

This one speaks for itself. Why purchase a packaged product for its contents and waste the plastic shell, when with a soap bar, once it dissolves, you don’t have to worry about it again. Besides, soap bars can also arguable make for a much more deep and refreshing scrub.

Don’t beat yourself up

Look, you are not perfect. Things will not go as planned all the time, and you won’t always have the clear head or mentality required to think in advance about what the most sustainable action to take is. But, if you simply try to reduce your waste, you will inspire the other people around you to try as well, and one day it will become the natural thing for everyone to do. That is all anyone can ask for.

Green Office Utrecht (GOU) is Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ’s central sustainability hub where fresh minds and hands come together to support Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ’s sustainable development. Green Office Utrecht makes the university’s policy tangible in the everyday reality of its students and staff members by informing them, involving them and empowering them to act. Green Office Utrecht is active on four themes: Food, Biodiversity, Mobility and Circularity.