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The Daily Aztec
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April 20 - 26, 2022 Editor: Ryan Hardison • arts@thedailyaztec.com
Lettuce celebrate: Here are five ways to maintain an eco-friendly kitchen By Trinity Bland MANAGING EDITOR
When thinking of ways to become more sustainable, implementing more ecofriendly choices into your daily lifestyle should be at the forefront of the plan. The kitchen is one of the most impactful places to make small changes for a better environment. This can include eating meat more responsibly, plant-based swaps and saving energy from the food you buy to the way it’s cooked or stored. Here are five practical ways to go “green” in your kitchen: 1. Strive for leftovers. The saying, “cook once, eat twice” was created with leftovers in mind. Intentionally cooking more food so you can eat later reduces your prep time and energy consumption. It also ensures you buy less ingredients, run your oven less frequently and stretch meals further. Pasta dishes like lasagna and salads are easy to make in large quantities and store away in smaller portions to enjoy later. The possibilities are endless, just don’t forget that you have some in your fridge or else your food and your sustainability efforts will both spoil. 2. Support local produce. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, buying locally has never been safer. Since local products do not have to be transported long distances, buying food and floral products produced, grown, or raised as close to home as possible helps both the economy and environment by conserving fuel and economy in addition to reducing global carbon footprint. The best way to shop for organic products locally is through neighborhood farmers’ markets. San Diego Certified Farmers’ Markets are certified by the
County Agricultural Commissioner, ensuring that the produce is being sold by the farmer, is grown in California and meets all California quality standards. As part of their efforts to promote and protect local farms, the San Diego Farm Bureau maintains a list of farmer’s markets in most major San Diego neighborhoods for each day of the week. 3. Cook seasonal foods. It’s easy to fall into the habit of purchasing the same grocery items over and over again, especially when on a college student budget. However, buying food doesn’t have to become redundant! Buying seasonal produce when it is most available means its economic demand is lower, so it conserves costs and expands your recipe creativity. Eating more root vegetables in the fall and winter can reflect the autumn aesthetic while a wider array of colors can be fun to experiment with in the spring and summer. This vegetable variety will ensure your palette stays in sync with nature’s cycle. One of the distinguishable things about San Diego State is having a Trader Joe’s located on campus, which can be exciting and equally overwhelming to navigate when trying to be sustainable. Calpulli Health Center’s wellbeing and health promotion department provides students with an exclusive list of affordable seasonal products as well as a grocery list for those who don’t know the first thing about shopping without their parents being right by their side. 4. Make a meal plan. This isn’t just for specific diets – planning menus and brainstorming things you want to make can be fun! This can also prevent you from making impulse purchases while grocery shopping, and
Graphic by Ryan Hardison
To keep your health in tip-top shape, there are several ways to build a sustainable kitchen and a healthy diet.
taking unnecessary trips to the store as well as placing takeout and delivery orders. Between meetings, classes, practices and other obligations, planning ahead with meal preparation can make any college student’s life easier. If you have trouble with how to create a meal plan personalized to you, there are health specialists and educators within the wellbeing and health promotion department who are available to help in one-on-one sessions in addition to informative group presentations held throughout the academic year. 5. Purify the air with natural ingredients. Chemical air fresheners can expose people to a number of toxins and allergens. To make your kitchen smell
nice and fresh, use some of the favorite ingredients you already have on hand! If you enjoy vanilla and cinnamon scents, boil some vanilla extract and cinnamon sticks (or just the spice itself) and let it simmer for an hour or two while watching lectures or during your study time. For a more citrus aroma, cut a lemon, lime or orange into a wedge and place it in your garbage disposal. In 2022, being conscious of the environment is quickly becoming the new normal, so don’t get left behind – make the effort to become a more sustainable student starting with your kitchen. Students can visit the wellbeing and health promotion’s virtual front desk or call them at (619) 594-4133 Monday through Friday 8:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
F*** Fast Fashion teaches students to shop and style sustainably with creativity
Column: Fashion going green should cost a little less green
By Jazlyn Dieguez
As more people realize the dangers of fast fashion, people are in search of clothing brands that are more sustainable. To some, that may sound easy, but finding accessible and affordable sustainable brands can be a challenge. If you are looking for a sustainable clothing store in any shopping area, you won’t have much luck finding one unless you go to a thrift store and even that can be limiting because of high demand. People often turn to online shopping as the primary option for finding sustainable clothing brands. Shopping online might not seem like a big deal, but the average consumer typically searches online for well known brands and those are the fast fashion ones such as Zara, H&M, Shein and Forever 21 to name a few. It can be quite overwhelming when searching for sustainable clothing because shoppers don’t know where to start or what brands to choose. This can be time consuming and people are not looking to spend an extensive amount of time searching for the right brand. Even after finding a sustainable clothing brand, shoppers quickly discover the prices on clothes range from $35 to $90. That might not seem expensive to some, but compared to fast fashion brands that sell clothes from an average of $4 to $35,
STAFF WRITER
Fashion plays a crucial role in people’s lives. It allows individuals to freely express themselves and their creativity. But at what cost will one’s fashion choices have a long-term environmental impact? Major companies that contribute to the unsustainable methods of fast fashion, or the mass production of clothing, include Shein, Princess Polly, Forever 21 and H&M. These businesses profit from their insufficient efforts to produce ecologically friendly clothing. At San Diego State, F*** Fast Fashion has actively participated in raising awareness surrounding sustainable fashion and conscious-consumption. FFF’s mission is advocated by Rachel Jung, the club’s president who is a fourth-year integrated marketing communications student. “We want to build a community where we are not shaming people for buying fast fashion because in the end, it’s not the consumers’ fault. But what we can do is increase more awareness in getting people to know that there are an endless amount of options in secondhand clothes that you can do so much with,” Jung said. Jung joined FFF in the spring of 2021,
when the club’s communication was moved online due to COVID-19. Her interest in the fashion industry prompted her to join, especially once she discovered how much the fashion industry has affected Generation Z. “Just seeing how that market really influenced an entire generation on how to consume clothes, it was kinda disappointing to see that my mindset was like that too,” Jung said. “And I didn’t like it because it seemed as if we were treating clothes as such a temporary thing when clothes should be something that are intertwined with us and throughout our growth.” SDSU students who share Jung’s perspective on fast fashion have discovered this club as a way to express creativity through sustainable fashion. The club engages with their members through online conversations by discussing sustainable consumption and encouraging members to submit photos of their best thrifted outfits. Members of the club also share their personal tips and tricks to thrifting. FFF is most known for its pop-up clothing exchanges, where students can get two to three clothing items for free. SEE ONLINE
By Destiny Esparza CONTRIBUTOR
it makes fast fashion brands seem even more tempting and convenient. In all fairness, sustainable clothing brands are more expensive because of the cost of ethical and eco-friendly materials, cost of labor such as ethical working conditions and sustainable brands still being in a niche market. Whereas fast fashion brands can market their products at low prices because they don’t have high costs of materials and labor and shoppers are already familiar with their brand. SEE ONLINE
Graphic by Ryan Hardison
Finding affordable, sustainable options is difficult when competing with brands like Forever 21.
