Quick School Guide for Being a Sustainable Student

Have you ever thought about how school is one of your first long time commitments you have and you’re barely 5 years old?

School is required in many countries like the United States and you can expect the next 15 years to be highly centered around your school schedule. Nothing happens in your life without looking at your school calendar, homework assignments, and big exams.

Not only is school one of the longest commitments you have as a young person, you don’t really get to decide much on how that experience is for you with helicopter parents, school district policies, and more.

Now we have the COVID-19 pandemic and going into year two of this and going to school and being a student is a completely different beast all together.

With this new beast called “schooling during a pandemic” you might not feel prepared as a student going into the new school year, pushing your sustainability goals to the side. That’s a scary feeling. I created today’s post to kick that fear to the curb so you can replace it with confidence.

Here is my guide to a school year with confidence while being a sustainable student. I broke it down in three ways to look at a school day or even a school year.

BEFORE SCHOOL

• Mindset: Get your mindset snatched aka under control and ready for the new year

  • Adjust expectations: Don’t set your expectations too high on how the school year will run, what social events will happen, if you will remain virtual or in-person for school; lowering your expectations helps you not be disappointed all the time
  • Accept things will not go as plan: Have a plan and accept that things will not go as plan; let things not going to plan be included in your plan; the key is to adjust all the time and be flexible to a constantly changing environment 
  • Bounce back quick from bad situations: Don’t dwell in situations that did not go your way for too long, acknowledge it, take your lesson, and move forward; that will make you stand a part – your ability to move forward
  • Reject eco-guilt: You may feel guilty for not sticking to your sustainability goals as well as you have in the past due to changes made at your school in response to the pandemic, but be gracious with yourself and focus on baby steps in achieving your sustainability goals 

• Supplies and Clothes: Get school supplies and clothes that match your values and that you actually need

  • It’s so easy to get caught up in the back to school sales at the big department stores but don’t; Instead I encourage you to shop at thrift stores and resell stores in the area to find low priced clothes and even school supplies. If you want to try thrifting but you’re not comfortable with it or you feel like you never find anything, you should check out my thrifting guide that’s available for a limited time.
  • If buying secondhand is just not for you, no worries there are hundreds of sustainable businesses out there as an alternative. If you want access to over 180 sustainable businesses in one place, you can check out this resource. 

AT SCHOOL

• Friend Group: Getting the right kind of people around you will make all the difference

  • Make friends that build you up but are real with you too
  • Surround yourself with friends that challenge you
  • Have friends that are dreamers
  • Surround yourself with optimistic friends that sees the glass half full

AFTER SCHOOL

• Self Check-ins: Regularly knowing where you are mentally and physically is key to growth

  • Set time aside to check in with yourself every day, every week, and every month; this will help you see when your achieving your goal and when you’re not and hopefully provide you with an explanation so you can make adjustments
  • Having some form of your check-ins be written will deepen the reflection whether that’s journaling, writing status update on goals, etc.

Going to school whether you’re in primary school or at a college or university, it is no walk in the park but if you want to know easy habits to make to be a sustainable student, check out this blog post here. It’s never easy to be a student but especially a student in 2021 is a whole another universe so be patient with yourself and always have a growth mindset.

What are you most excited about this school year?