With the passing of Earth Week, sustainability is on everyone’s mind. Throughout April, I was inundated with ads, infographics and reminders of ways to reduce my carbon footprint. While we, as individuals, do not have as much of an effect on climate change as big corporations do, we still find ourselves doing what we can to have a positive impact on our planet. 

On TikTok, #sustainable has 1.8 billion views, with creators sharing their best tips and tricks on how to start sustainable habits. From reducing food waste to planting a garden, I have found myself swapping these rituals into my daily routine. 

As college students, we are usually buying groceries for one person, which means that we often don’t get to eat food fast enough and end up having to throw away food that goes bad. Yes, composting is an option, but even then, you feel a bit guilty throwing away food before you get to it. 

Shelbi Storme (@shelbizleee) has built a brand on “(attempting to) make sustainability fun across the internet.” Her video on how to store food to avoid waste is a game changer when it comes to fruits and vegetables.

Storme suggests storing greens in a container with a napkin or towel on top to absorb moisture. When it comes to potatoes, they should be stored in a cool, dry place to avoid quick rotting. Carrots, which are notorious for going limp, should be chopped up, added to a jar and submerged in water to keep them crunchy. 

Love cooking in the oven, but hate the mess? CNN’s product review TikTok, @cnnunderscored, has got you covered.

Tin foil, parchment paper and other single use items can be switched for nonstick, silicone divider trays that allow you to bake multiple things at once. There’s no need to wait for one thing to cook before switching the baking sheet; if your items take different times to cook, you can remove the trays as you please. When you’re done cooking, the trays can be thrown right into the dishwasher.

Similarly, the account @brightly.eco shared reusable alternatives that can be used instead of single-use products. Nonstick silicone muffin molds are a great alternative to disposable cupcake liners. Dryer balls are a substitute for dryer sheets that get tossed out after drying a load of laundry. If you love packing snacks in Ziploc bags, it’s time to switch to reusable silicone storage bags that are even sturdier and can be washed and reused. 

However, preventing climate change and helping the planet is more than just converting to reusable products; we also have to think about our environment and natural resources.

Redleaf Ranch’s (@redleafranch) account has great gardening lessons to help connect with not only Mother Nature, but with ourselves. Even though not everyone is blessed with a green thumb, these videos can help even the worst of gardeners gain one. 

For instance, one way to make your gardening experience easier while also helping nature thrive is by planting native plants. Plants that are native to your environment will attract native wildlife and native pollinators, while also being a lot less invasive and a lot less work. 

These plants are used to the climate conditions of the area and were built for them. They will make your garden beautiful and allow for native wildlife to do its thing for the environment. It’s a win-win.

You don’t have to plant a garden to show that you care about the environment. Doing the small things can help us create habits that will break the cycle of carelessness toward climate change.

Yes, it can be hard to make these changes when big corporations and politicians are the ones who have a bigger impact on the environment. However, grassroots change can be the catalyst for even larger change. 

Not all of us will become completely sustainable overnight, but hopefully these TikTok videos will show us where to start.

Trinity Gomez is a senior writing about TikTok and popular culture. Her column, “TikTalk,” ran every other Thursday.

No. 7 USC will face a dangerous Fresno State Bulldog team Saturday.

Reflecting on the introspective power of “Box of Rain” by the Grateful Dead.

Californians expressed support for increasing potential threat reports.

U.S. News’ ranking factors have remained the same since the previous year.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: