Though some people may deny our effect on the planet's climate, most sensible people are both aware of and care about our impact on the environment of our beautiful world. It may seem like each one of us is too small to really have an impact on this, but every great revolution starts on an individual level. 

As a student in Sheffield there are many ways in which you can contribute just by making your own flat, apartment, studio or house more eco-friendly. 

But first of all, why should you bother?

Importance of Living Sustainably and Recycling

As students, the next generation of professionals, parents and influential individuals we have the responsibility to start making a difference in our cities. 

Sheffield has the highest number of trees per person in all of Europe, quite a cool fact. We are also located just on the edge of the beautiful and internationally appreciated Peak District. The UK's first established national park is well known for it's natural beauty. 

If we wish to look after our beautiful, green city and indeed the rest of the world, it starts with taking responsibility for your own waste on a personal level as a student, graduate or professional in your home and everyday life. 

Below, we have some great reasons to start recycling if you haven't already, some that you may not have thought about yet.

Why Recycle?

Well, we all know that recycling is good news for the planet. 

When you recycle, a substantial portion of our waste is broken down into its original elements. It is then used to produce new materials, so we reduce the harmful waste that we discard into the environment. 

But there's more benefits of recycling than just helping the environment, like that isn't enough of a reason already? Here are some other great impacts that recycling has, that you may not have thought of...

1. It contributes to our economy! Recycling conserves resources saving money, creates jobs in the UK and generates revenue. This is good news for everyone now, and for generations to come.
2. It reduces our need to buy raw materials, making us less dependent on other nations. This makes our country more stable as we won't be relying on the supplies of others.
3. Ethical reasons. If we do not recycle and conserve our resources now, there will be none left for our future generations. 

So, here we have some great reasons to start recycling if you haven't already!

But, although we all have every reason to recycle, sometimes it just feels like a chore, so here are some helpful tips that will make it easy to make your student flat more eco-friendly...

Helpful Tips for Recycling in your Student Home in Sheffield

• Keep your blue box inside the house or flat, so you don't have to go outside every time you want to separate your rubbish.
• Get to know your bin and recycling collection dates, perhaps write them down and stick them on the fridge, on the flat's calendar or set a reminder on your phone. To find your collection dates, click here and enter your details.
• Crush your cans, tins, bottles etc. to save space in your blue bin or box.
• Stay on top of your bins. Not literally, but make sure you put your bins out the night before collection. It's so easy to miss a couple of collection days and before you know it, there's a mountain of bin bags and recycling outside your house. Staying on top of this makes it easier to live and makes your student home a lot nicer.
• Make sure you put your waste in the right bin, check the poster below demonstrating what can and cannot put in the recycling bins.
  

It really is very simple to keep on top of the recycling collection schedule, and after a short time doing this as a routine, it will become second nature to you and not seem like a chore. In addition to this, for students especially, it will make your home a much nicer place to live. Not having to think about stuff like overflowing bins and how you can possibly reduce the mountain of bin bags outside your back door etc. Means you'll have less on your mind so that you can focus on your studies and make the most of your time in Sheffield.

There are other ways you can reduce your own impact on the environment alongside recycling, below we have some other tips that will make your student life in Sheffield more eco-friendly....

Other Student Tips to Reduce Your Waste

Recycling isn't the only thing you can do to help protect the environment, to reduce your personal impact on climate change there are many other simple things that you can do...

• Buy reusable products, re-use water bottles etc, look for longer lasting products rather than disposable items. This will reduce your personal waste. Every minute throughout the world one million plastic bottles are bought, and in the UK we only recycle around 57% of our waste. So a great way to reduce this number is to buy a reusable bottle instead of buying new ones all the time.
• Don't get straws with your bevvies. Between the US and the UK, we throw away nearly 550 million plastic straws per day, most of them ending up in the ocean.
• Buy your stuff in bulk where you can. This generally means less trips to the shops, so, one you don't need to go out to the shops as much and two, you're not burning fossil fuels to get there
• Choose products with minimum packaging.
• Take your own bags to the supermarket. Since the 5p charge was introduced in our supermarkets, we've seen a huge drop of 85% of bags being used in England, which is fantastic, but still around eight million tonnes of plastic still ends up in the worlds oceans every year.
• Buy used products or borrow products from friends and family rather than buying new stuff every time.
• Maintain and repair your products, rather than throwing them away, learn how to fix it yourself!

As has been stated already, it's hard to believe that one person makes a big difference, but it always starts with you! If you want to have a greater impact, share this article and these tips with your flatmates, friends and family. We all want to preserve our beautiful natural world and protect it for generations to come, if you want any more help or tips, get in touch with Sheffield Property To Let here to find out about how we help our lovely student tenants to make their flats and houses more eco-friendly.

One final personal tip, when you've finished your four packs of beer or cider, cut the little plastic rings with scissors before recycling or binning them. This may seem like the smallest thing you could do, but even if you don't recycle the plastic, you could stop one of these little cuties from getting trapped in one, you still have made an amazing impact! Think of the little things ...