SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

I was inspired by the opportunities that Monash students have to take "One Step" towards a more sustainable lifestyle. I've been taking advantage of these, and trying to come up with my own steps that are relevant to student life. I will try my best to document these and post them here! Starting with... Walking and taking the bus from the Bus Loop!

Actively seeking to make the work office environmentally friendly and promoting activities supporting eco-friendliness.

As an avid gardener, I've noticed that I use a huge amount of water weekly. I've decided to minimise my water usage by collecting and recycling rainwater & old water from my pets for horticultural use.

This year I will take a step to never use plastic cutlery (and hopefully never again). This one small thing can easily be achieved by keeping a piece of cutlery in your back, and asking for no plastic when using your food. It will also influence my friends around me when they see me using my own cutlery, and I cant talk to them about it too.

Every single product produced and consumed in this world has an impact on the environment and every individual who uses this product is responsible for this impact as they are the consumers of it. Hence, it is very important to be aware of the carbon footprint each one of us leaves in this world whenever we switch on a light bulb or turn the ignition of our car on. Awareness of the environmental impact of such small human activities will help create a better world where we are grateful for the natural resources we have and start using them more efficiently. I have decided to undertake the following steps to reduce my carbon footprint in this world: 1. I will stop using plastic bags and instead use re-usable bags. 2. I will use public transport to travel within city limits instead of a car. 3. I will use recycled paper for writing and reduce the amount of print-outs i take. 4. I will use energy efficient CFL lamps / bulbs. 5. I will use water responsibly 6. I will try to find a sustainable solution to the problem of plastic pollution which is affecting the natural world. 7. I will try to develop renewable energy sources so that the dependence on fossil-fuel and hence, the pollution is reduced.

I will re-establish my family's compost system at home in order to minimise food waste. Our society wastes 50% of food created, and composting makes use of food waste for gardening purposes. I will make sure to put all my food waste in the compost system and encourage family members to join me in doing so.

I have decided to reduce my carbon footprint by going vegan. With enough people changing their deit to vegan, this will drastically reduce land usage, chemical run off, carbon and methane production, while increasing people's health and well-being. Veganism is a more sustainable use of resources and is the future if we want to achieve Sustainability. I have pledged to eat vegan as I cannot be a sustainable designer or human if I support the world's largest environmental issue. I hope by the end of the semester I can be fully vegan as at the moment my diet is roughly 90% vegan - I also hope to encourage at least 2 friends or family members to also go vegan.

I'd want to help people working in green stuff out however way I can to make sure we can make the world beautiful again

I wanted the most eco friendly bags to use for shopping, as the green supermarket bags are still a type of plastic. Cotton, and even organic cotton, still use a lot of resources ( water and chemcials for nonorganic) to produce. Jute however requires much less water, grows quickly and requires minimal to no fertiliser. Although I was aware of the carbon miles the bags would travel, I chose to buy some made by a Bangladeshi Womens Co-op and the bags are fantastic. Best still, I can home compost them when they are no longer useable:)

It's important that we as consumers show our commitment to the recycling industry. By increasing the demand and use of the industry we support the development of sustainable recycling practices. This involves going above and beyond the normal recycling program. In my share house, I am going to introduce a separation system for soft plastics (to go to the Redcycle program), as well as other miscellaneous items (CD's, batteries, etc.) which can be disposed of at the local library. On top of this, we are taking a 'reduce' approach to minimise the amount of plastic we buy when shopping, to discourage the use of single use plastic!