Boycott on a student budget

Students in their droves claim to support the fair trade movement, investment into research for a greener lifestyle and upholding basic human rights worldwide.

Why then, do so many of us buy clothes made in sub-standard conditions, eat food doused in chemicals and have no qualms with travelling by plane?

The answer is simple - money. Few students can afford the premiums associated with living ethically.

Herein lies the dilemma: do we pay the premium on organic and Fairtrade goods, when money is tight as it is and make ourselves poorer in the process?

Or can we justify our lifestyle - if we ignore our consumer conscience until we graduate, get a job with a higher salary and 'make up' for it by spending more on ethical products, does that make it okay?

With the credit crunch hitting hard many who would have spent the extra on ethical goods, there are more people than ever in the position of your average student - wanting to spend the extra to assuage the conscience, but not really in a position to afford it.

Fortunately lack of funds shouldn't be a hindrance to students wanting to minimise their carbon footprint or a guilty conscience; many things you can do will save you money in the long-run.

Eco-friendly Fashion

Whilst it'll be a few years before we'll be swapping pesticide-free cotton for Primark, there are a few things we can do to keep our inner environmentalist happy.

Eco-friendly fashionistas should head for the local library and grab a copy of Green Is The New Black by Tamsin Blanchard.

It contains hundreds of genuinely useful hints and tips, from listing the best vintage shops to washing clothes the ethical way (anyone else heard of soapods?).

As the target audience seems to be affluent women not all of the tips will be entirely relevant to students - I certainly won't be putting vintage Chanel in storage any time soon.

But if you don't want to compromise on eco or fashion credentials then it's worth a read.

You can also discuss 'all things fashionably green' on Blanchard's blog.

Alternatively find out about the brands that exploit children in their factories, how clothes-swapping can breathe new life into a dull outfit and the ethical clothing lines making waves in the fashion world.

Freedom Food

Drop the ready meal and back away from the microwave - before you so much as look at that Fairtrade hot chocolate, the most budget/eco-friendly thing you can do (besides not eating) is ditch the ready meals.

No foodstuff wrapped in that much packaging or containing that many unpronounceable ingredients can be good for anything but the bin.

So, you've ditched the fake food - what to eat now?

Start by buying seasonal and local; that means winter squash in Autumn and no strawberries until Summer.[-[more]-]

This reduces CO2 emissions and you won't be paying for the journey your bananas have taken, so it's cheaper too.

(But then this raises yet another dilemma - do you buy local apples and reduce CO2 emissions or buy Fairtrade bananas from Ecuador, contributing to the only income the growers have? Hmm...Maybe split it between locally grown and foreign Fairtrade?)

See the seasonal food calendar for what's in season this November.

Another way to eat ethically and cheaply is as simple as reducing the amount of meat in your diet.

With meat prices shooting up 22% in the last year (vegsoc.org) and the UN claiming that eating less red meat will combat the effects of climate change (BBC.co.uk) there's no better time to go veggie.

Check out the Vegetarian Society's recipes for students or the myriad of veggie student cookbooks available.

Ethical Entertainment

To be really ethical (and thrifty) you could use the university library and make regular use of the local Blockbuster's.

But sometimes that's far from practical and it works out cheaper to have the the book/DVD/video game in your possession.

In that case, repeat after me: pre-owned. [-[quote]-]

Not only are second-hand goods a fraction of the cost you'll be saving a considerable amount of resources too.

Green Metropolis is a good choice for those looking to buy or sell second-hand books.

Though the textbook section is a bit sparse, Green Metropolis is ideal for anyone looking for popular fiction or classic literature.

Each standard-sized paperback costs £3.75 including free delivery and a 5p donation to the Woodland Trust, making it that bit extra ethical!

Travel

Unless you're in a great hurry, there's no pressing need to take short haul flights when there are so many other ways to get from A to B.

Whether it's rail, ferry or coach, check out the Plane Alternatives article to see how other methods of travel can form a memorable part of your holiday.

Remember - there is life beyond Ryanair.