Online Learning: The Smart & EcoFriendly Choice

What Online Learning Can Do For YOU (As Well as The Planet)

This is a Guest Post by C. N. Moore

My experience finishing my degree was considerably more chaotic than what most of us imagine the typical college journey to be.

My husband was in the military while I was attempting to get my degree. So we moved, and then we moved again, and then we moved again. Initially, I remained committed to getting my degree via the traditional route, even though it meant I commuted an hour each way.

About three-quarters of the way through my degree though, I decided it was time for a change.

So I spent the last year-and-a-half going to school full-time, online. And while I was originally reluctant, in the end I realized that the pros of online learning outweighed the cons.

What I found was that online learning created the perfect platform to combine my drive to get a degree and my passion for being an eco-conscious individual.

If you’re where I was, and wondering if it’s even possible, I’m here to tell you it’s not just possible, it’s totally doable – and smart.

You can get that degree you’ve always wanted to get, and beyond that, meet the priorities of your green-loving heart.

Online Learning: A flexible and empowering experience 

By the time I finished my degree I was working full-time and waddling through pregnancy. I know what it is to look at your life and just see complications. But online learning allowed me the flexibility to finish my degree, work full-time, and expand our family.

This is one of the areas of life where the returns are tenfold. Maybe going back to school will allow you to completely revamp your professional life or perhaps it will just add another layer of fulfillment, and that’s also completely worthwhile.

I was worried that I would be missing out on important parts of the college experience by going to school online, however what I found was that there were actually many advantages I couldn’t have foreseen.

The flexibility allowed me to maintain my responsibilities. The collaboration prompted me to think outside the box. Being able to work on things when it fit my schedule and creativity, to spend more time on the things I struggled with and less time on the things I already understood, those elements gave me the ability to thrive.

Online Learning Reduces Waste

I’m not going to tell you that when I transitioned to an online program I also transitioned into wasteless life, but I will tell you that the amount of waste reduction was huge.

Beyond the fact that I was no longer spending hours on the road any more, I also no longer needed to use the large buildings that housed my classes, the library, the cafeteria, and the offices of my professors.

In the traditional setting, every class meant pages and pages of paper for all syllabi, in-class hand-outs, papers, exams, assessments, projects, presentations, etc. As an online student, I hardly used my printer.

Cutting down on paper waste is no inconsequential thing. The average American uses the paper and wood equivalent of one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir every year, and paper waste accounts for 27 percent of all waste.

Not only does pursuing an online degree cut down on the amount of paper use, but when you do have to use certain products, you are in control of what happens to them afterwards. You can ensure that everything is recycled or reused appropriately.

Online Learning Promotes Sustainability

In the modern world an individual’s eco-conscious priorities and long-term goals can live in harmony. Not only can they exist together, this can potentially be the foundation with which to further educate not only yourself, but others.

The dream is that we will one day live in a world where everyone is on the same page in terms of sustainability. However, at this point, “Why do we need to be eco-friendly?”, is still a common question. But the fewer who need to ask that question, the better off we will be.

In today’s world, online education isn’t just flexible for scheduling, but also in terms of the degrees offered. The potential is there to earn a degree that will allow you to translate your passion for sustainability into a viable career. The very things that likely drew you to this website – a desire to learn and a desire to make a positive impact – are the same things that can translate into a future you’ll love.

Don’t be Afraid of Doing Hard Things

It’s not that online learning will be easy, because it won’t be. But I think it’s fair to say that the idea of pursuing things because they’re easy is overrated. Instead, what makes sense is that we do things in life that are fulfilling and worthwhile, even when those things are difficult.

If you’re thinking about making some long-term investments on behalf of your well-being, and by extension the health of our planet, please go for it. Your dedication to yourself and the planet will only result in positive outcomes.

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Have you used online learning? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments below.

Warm regards,

P.S.  Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.

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