SDG 13: Climate action

It is important to me that I stop supporting unethical industries (such as fossil fuels and tobacco) with my superannuation and bank accounts. I will research my best options, divest my funds, and then make sure to discuss my decisions with my friends and family to encourage them to make the switch too.

I will be volunteering at CERES as a science communicator, writing articles to educate the community on green technology and help lower the carbon footprint

We are all guilty of doing this. A great way to save energy (and money!) is to turn off switches when they are not being used around home, work and university

Sustainability and social justice play a huge role in my life from day to day. With some thought, I have identified a giant gap. I have been eating a vegan diet for approximately 8 years, but in order to go completely cruelty free and ethical, it's time for me to get serious about comprehensively responsible consumption. I pledge to avoid the purchase of any products containing palm oil (linked to deforestation, climate change, habitat degradation, animal abuse and indigenous rights abuses). I intend to make this a permanent change. Looking forward to the adjustment!

The meat, egg and dairy industries are by far the largest contributors to many of the world's environmental and sustainability issues, so I will be permanently changing to a solely plant based diet.

When eating on campus I will NOT use any plastic disposable cutlery. Instead I will carry my own cutlery for when I eat on campus.

Eat only vegetarian food for a month (or longer!)

Although I am already a religious user of my Coles green bags and reusable coffee cup, I have realised that there is an excessive amount of plastic packaging out there which is a much bigger problem! Supermarkets Shelves and uni cafes are full of items wrapped in Single use Plastics, which all end up in landfill or fly away into the ocean. I am saying NO to all single use plastic, which is a challenge, but not only would it have a huge effect on the environment, eating raw wholefoods rather than processed packaged food is healthier for everyone!

To only use sustainable resources and reduce my personal waste and try and influence those around me . I commit to using my car less, taking public transport, not using disposable containers or plastic bags and living a vegan lifestyle. I hope my actions will make those around me think about their own actions as well.

After taking on a research project last semester on the extent and impact of food waste in Australia I have become very conscious of how much food goes to waste in my household. Before this I hadn't even thought about how much methane is created by sending food to landfill, and the devastating effect of these additional GHGs on our climate and ecosystems. So I am committing to reducing my household's food waste through more conscious shopping and cooking, and the use of our newly completed worm farms (a little semester break DYI!) to turn any remaining waste into liquid fertiliser for the garden :)