SDG 8: Economic growth and employment

In an attempt to disrupt the flow of carbon into the atmosphere, I will be disrupting the flow of my money to coal, oil and gas. Like many others, I have switched to a plant-based diet, carry a keep cup and drink bottle and get heated about environmental issues. However, neither my bank nor my super account aligns with my environmental values. The concept of divesting is simple. Without our money, banks cannot keep funding the companies that pollute for profit. I would like to put my money where my mouth is, as the money that you deposit in a bank may be financing projects that fuel the climate crisis. In the last five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, 35 of the world's leading banks have invested more than US$2.7 trillion in fossil fuel investments and have made over $16.6 billion in profits. Moving my money away from fossil fuels is one of the most powerful and easiest actions that I can take to leave behind the unviable trend of coal. This one step of divestment is proof that small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. Finally, I would like to use my social media platforms, such as Instagram, to blog about environmental activism. I pledge to use my following to spend more time talking about climate change as there is far too little discussion around the issue in the public sphere. Ultimately, we know that a rapid transformation of our world is possible - evident in how fast corporations, communities and governments have acted throughout this pandemic. Notably, the recent 2021 Sustainable Development Report by the United Nations revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic is a setback for sustainable development everywhere. For the first time since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, the global average SDG Index score for 2020 has decreased from the previous year. Now more than ever, we must take simple and powerful steps towards healing our one planet.

In 2020 I became the Youth Member for the electorate of Currumbin appointed to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in the Queensland Youth Parliament. One of the many things I did during my tenure was publish an article on Australia's $10 billion food waste issue. Although it's far from being a glamorous topic of conversation, food waste is something I'm actually quite passionate about. For years I've been researching and discussing the multifarious implications of food waste and brainstorming ways in which to mitigate this global phenomenon. In 2018 after being in the first cohort to complete the Macquarie University Incubator's pilot 'Go Start' Program, I participated in the Sydney-Hong Kong Ideation Exchange Program where I spent two-weeks visiting start-ups, universities and businesses in Australia, Hong Kong and China. During this time, I co-created a new start-up called 'Ag-Eye' which sought to utilise drone and smart technology to facilitate farming practices; reducing costs, manpower expenditures and food waste for Australian farmers. In 2019 I wrote my thesis for my major in anthropology at Macquarie University on the benefits of community gardens. Through my six months of participant observation research I found that community gardens had a plethora of mental, physical, environmental and monetary benefits to individuals, families and communities - in particular newly arrived immigrants. My goal with this 'Take One Step' initiative is to continue my journey and challenge students, staff, residential halls and food venues at Monash University to mitigate the amount of food they waste.

Firstly, I'm committing to becoming fully vegetarian. I've been mostly plant based in the past but I'd like to take it one step further. I also want to significantly reduce single use plastics in my kitchen by preparing meals in tupperware and making my own snacks at home to further reduce plastic waste such as packaging. I'll be making my own protein balls, dairy free milk and trail mix etc. rather than purchasing them from a supermarket to cut down on non recyclable packaging and waste. I've purchased beeswax wraps to use in place of gladwrap to store items in the fridge and to bring to university or work. My family has also stopped using plastic bags. With the remaining ones at home, we reuse them as bin liners. I'd also like to bulk buy more of my groceries and visit nearby, local farmers markets to support them. All these steps will contribute to a more sustainable kitchen and diet that will hopefully inspire those around me to take similar, small actions.

Clothes and other items never remain forever by our side. Eventually they become smaller in size, out of style or etc. I have many such items such as shoes, clothes, bags and jewelleries that I do not use. After giving so much to orphanages, after a while they told us that they had enough items for twice the amount of children. Therefore I came up with an idea. THRIFTING! It was a win-win situation and got some friends to embark on this journey with me. I plan to start a website or a page on social media to sell my items at very low prices. In this way, I am decreasing wastage. Also, I am decreasing my carbon footprint, since the production of clothes and its shipping costs a lot of non-renewable energy. With thrifting, people will buy less new clothes and will only aid in recycling old ones. Win-win indeed!

In regards to "Small Changes Count ", This step is that with one small action done by one person can change someone's life .During this pandemic we are in Lockdown and that should not stop us from being environmentally friendly and also being more healthy. Small changes we make in our everyday living will make a big difference in the environment .

Fast fashion and consumer culture are one of the most unsustainable practices in the developed world. For 1 month, I will buy not buy anything new as I believe I can decrease my footprint substantially by reducing. This also means that I will have to reuse various resources and recycle older things to get what I need.

The fast fashion phenomenon is speeding at a high rate. Many popular apparel companies take advantage of hard working labourers (especially from developing countries) to create the clothes we wear, and in return receive little to no pay. Meanwhile, ecosystems are impacted greatly as natural resources such as water are used to produce the clothing we add to our wardrobe. Additionally, fashion manufacturing companies produce heavy smoke and toxic chemicals that potentially impact the air vulnerable communities breathe in, and can cause health problems for biodiversity. I challenge myself to become more sustainably-conscious about the brands I buy/wear and I reduce my carbon footprint by limiting my shopping behaviour on new clothing, and support local vintage shops that sell pre-loved clothes. A shirt with a small rip thrown away equals to throwing away the many hours and resources spent on manufacturing and distribution. Slow down fast fashion to create a sustainable (and fashionable) future.

In underdeveloped country the financing and opportunity for entrepreneurship is very hard. The regional areas where the reach of bank is hard to get and people seeks opportunity to transact money in a easy manner. Mobile banking and fintech could be one way to solve this problem. My idea is to make this steps easy and convenient for those people.

I would like to see more pet-friendly public places like restaurants, gardens in China. Every pet would be taking good care of and no more stray animals

I believe our sustainable planning varies according to the location and demographics. For instance, renewable resources preferred in Western Australia is Solar, but the suitable sustainable way of generating and sourcing energy in Tasmania is Hydroelectric power. So, according to our inputs, we model and build our sustainable environments. Victoria, proudly known as the Educational State of Australia, hosts around 490K students, including domestic and 40% international students. The universities are spread across various suburbs of the Melbourne Metropolitan area covering all four directions except few campuses within the CBD region. Naturally, around 400k students are based in the University suburbs. The average demographic age in these suburbs is 23 years old. The average distance between 2 Universities is about 11kms, which makes the Suburbs more educated and diverse, which gives us enough space and resources to facilitate precise waste treatment individually. We throw the waste into respective allocated bins and think we are helping the recycling process. But four bins given by the local council does not solve all the problem. Further, every six months, new students move in, and many students move within the suburbs. As an international student, I have observed that we tend to shop the immediate requirements such as new laundry baskets, containers for the kitchen, heaters, etc., without thinking twice when we move in. The average study duration for students is estimated to be two years. Whenever we carry out or change the place, the suburban streets are left with much-unwanted plastic and other wastes because students think the products are cheap and long-distance movement of these small home products is a burden. Embodied energy and CO2 footprint of these small products in the manufacturing and recycling phase are ten times higher than the transportation and use phase. After careful observation and analysis, I have taken one step of not hurrying about shopping for a new home and reducing possible waste thrown out when I leave. Instead, I have taken the initiative of buying only food essentials in the initial 45-50 days, such as a recyclable bag, collecting cardboard from online orders. Once I complete my 45 days stay in Victoria, I accumulate a pasta jar, ice cream box, and so on to replace buying new things. My next step is to highlight this blind waste to fellow Victorian students by sharing our Victoria home tips during Orientation and University activities as essentials. My following action is to create a universal hub for all Victorian Uni students to plan separation of waste into even more specific categories, such as submitting weekly soft plastics to nearby Coles or Woolworths situated in 2.5kms radius of each suburb. Followed by promoting water-saving Faucets in kitchen stinks, bathroom tap, and gardens around the house and campuses, collecting electronic waste from the respective suburbs, and reallocating between University and local council for the University research training for both students and researchers and finally composting. As most of the suburbs facilitate a share house experience for most students, I have planned to compost our regular food and green waste to grow desired plants. Forming Victorian students hub during our stay will surely influence the Victorian environment.