SDG 7: Clean energy

Having adopted sustainable habits throughout the past couple of years and becoming more aware of the carbon footprint of my everyday activities, my next step is to speak up and use my voice to influence systemic change. I have often had moments of intention to advocate for climate action and more sustainable government policy, but have always been uncertain of where to start. While the right to physically gather to protest has been put on hold during the pandemic, I know there are other ways we can use our voices to influence change. Carbon emissions have been reduced slightly due to travel bans this year, however, this is a temporary change. [1] It is well reported that effective pandemic recovery must include strong climate action from our governments at all levels. [2] So I plan to use my voice and unite with others to influence meaningful change on sustainable development issues. [1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1061082 [2] https://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/how-countries-climate-ambitions-can-support-sustainable-recovery-covid-19-coronavirus Photo: Tiff Ng, sourced from Canva

I am excited to create a veggie patch in my yard where I will grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, native plants and flowers. This step will be beneficial for the environment, as it will contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions and waste. My family and I will be spending less at the supermarket and will benefit from a healthier diet. I will know exactly what will go into the process of growing my own produce, i.e. no pesticides and no GMOs. I'm grateful to have the resources to contribute.

My step towards living sustainably is to save energy while performing all my day to day activities. By doing small steps like putting on a sweater and turning the thermostat down on a cold evening, turning off appliances like bulbs and computers off when they are not in use. Small steps starting at home can help make an impact around oneself. I pledge to take small steps to save energy around me and make other people around me practice the same.

Contained in half of all supermarket products and forming 61% of biofuel energy, palm oil's disastrous effects on the planet are multi-faceted. The plantation of palm forests has disastrous effects on biodiversity and every natural forest commercialised pushes vulnerable species closer to extinction. Furthermore, its use in biofuel has three times the impact on climate change as regular fossil fuels. My step is to continue educating myself about palm oil, begin checking labels for it and purchasing alternatives which are palm-oil free. I will also spread awareness amongst my community.

Consider how many times you’ve bought more than you need, then tossed half of it in the bin. Whether it be leftover food, unwanted clothing or plastic packaging, the accumulation of this waste in landfills has had a detrimental impact on our enivoment, climate and community - contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and harming marine life through the pollution of oceans and waterways. To help address this growing sustainability threat and decrease the amount of waste I produce, I am adopting a “REDUCE, REUSE, RECYLE” lifestyle. This involves making a conscious effort to only buy what I need, choosing products with less packaging and avoiding single-use items (e.g. plastic straws). I also aim to reuse what I already own - refilling my water bottle from home instead of buying a new one and re-filling used food jars with healthy homemade products. Furthermore, before I throw something away I will think about wether all or part of it can be recycled. By adopting these simple strategies into my everyday life I hope to decrease my waste production and protect the environment. I encourage everyone to join me in taking this action towards ensuring a safe and sustainable future for all!

The concept "sustainability" often motivates discussion of outcome manipulation, eg: "reduced food waste". Such outcomes are typically envisioned and sought after using unsustainable procedures. For a complex system (eg: a business, a person) to be sustainable it must maintain itself indefinitely, not just produce sustainable outcomes. “Sustainability” is therefore a state, not an endpoint. To maintain sustainability, the structure of a system must be comprised of self-stabilising internal mechanisms. For example, your computer is an unsustainable system since it cannot repair itself. Your eyes are sustainable systems since they can recover from superficial injury without intervention. In seeking to determine the preconditions for a sustainable global civilisation, I realised that my way of approaching the topic of sustainability was itself unsustainable. Since that realisation, I have been studying psychology. I seek to approach sustainability from the ground up. How is my way of thinking about sustainability itself sustainable? How can self-stabilising psychological techniques be applied to larger scale outcome-oriented sustainability endeavours? I then developed a psychological technique for practicing sustainability. Each day I list my sustainable activities and my unsustainable activities, with the added condition that each day must include more sustainability than the last. This technique gives my pursuit of sustainable outcomes viability, integrity, depth, reflectivity, originality, and versatility. My psychological and systems-oriented approach to sustainability could be applied to individuals, relationships, groups, businesses, organisations, and societies and could refine our collective pursuit of a sustainable world.

I have become a shareholder recently and am beginning to diversify my portfolio - however, I want to be investing in companies that have policy in place for a better future. As I continue to invest I will be a shareholder of ethical and sustainable companies that have a better future regarding any SDGs in focus. Vote with your wallet! photo credit: Emma Tkalcevic

I will start an Instagram account linking climate change to social justice issues in Australia with simple steps to take action e.g. how to write to your MP, fossil fuel divestment and more.

I love so close to my local shops that I really want to stop driving to get groceries. It’s been hard with the stage 4 restrictions, but now that things are easing I can take more time. To my shops and back is only a 3km round trip, so I plan to start doing that and not give in to the temptation of the car. It will take time to rebuild my fitness to that point.

I love so close to my local shops that I really want to stop driving to get groceries. It’s been hard with the stage 4 restrictions, but now that things are easing I can take more time. To my shops and back is only a 3km round trip, so I plan to start doing that and not give in to the temptation of the car. It will take time to rebuild my fitness to that point.