SDG 13: Climate action

There are already several steps I have taken to reduce my carbon footprint, including eating vegan, consuming local and/or second-hand, reducing waste, not having a car. However, I recognise there is still a lot of things I can do to improve my environmental impact, and I would like to take this opportunity to commit to one more step. I would like to switch to a more responsible bank, that does not finance fossil fuels. This small step would be a way to encourage the development of renewable energies and the transition towards low carbon economies. I will carry on research to find a more responsible bank, transfer my money to this bank, and close my old accounts. While the impact will be relatively small it would be a way to continue aligning my actions with my values.

I am passionate about creating a sustainable future for us to live in. This involves reducing my waste as much as possible. I have lived in an apartment for the last six months, making composting quite difficult. I am now in a living situation that accomodates composting and would like to begin to compost all organic food and garden waste. I already reduce my dairy, meat, fish, and animal product intake to improve my environmental footprint. The next step is to recycle the organic waste that I produce as part of reducing my environmental footprint further.

I will stop eating meat on any of the weekdays. By changing my habits to include buying my fruit and vegetable produce from local sellers and supporting the local economy, going for a weekly shop rather than each day to reduce my energy consumption, using recycled bags and avoiding plastics I will eat more diverse and better quality food, from more sustainable sources at a cheaper cost! WIN! WIN! WIN!

I will create an app where you post a photo or video of small sustainable actions that you have done. Others in your local community/on your campus can see this and like the post - for a certain number of likes, you get a point which you can then redeem at a local shop or cafe. This supports appreciation for sustainable action and provides good examples of how easy it is to help the environment and reduce our carbon footprint.

With the world's generation of solid waste is expected to increase by 70% by 2050. The step I am taking aims to combat this issue in an enterprising and personally relevant manner. I intend on reducing and educating people on the dangers of the current throwaway culture through social media. Reducing my solid waste by upcycling preloved items such as clothing and jewellery and selling them through social media or donating it to local charities and shelters. Whilst using the digital medium of social media to advocate and educate about the dangers of waste and how to minimise personal waste. With waste-related greenhouse gas emissions anticipated to reach 2.6 billion tonnes by 2050, there is a dire need for change. My step of repurposing preloved goods and making the concept accessible and attractive to reduce the impact of the current 'Take, Make, Waste' society. Donating quality preloved goods promotes the accessibility of the notion as individuals of all socioeconomic statuses can participate in the more sustainable and economical practice of shopping second hand. Likewise, the curated nature of social media allows for the daunting notion of making the change to reduce waste appear more attractive as it will present it in an achievable manner. Ensuring the resources taken from the earth are made to reduce waste!

The one step I will take is to consume one piece of knowledge about the climate a week. Knowledge is a precious tool in our fight against climate change. On an individual level it’s through cookbooks and cooking shows I’ve been able to manage a sustainable diet for so long, through Gardening Australia that I learnt which native edibles I could grow in my garden, through articles I acquired strategies to reduce waste, through my community I’ve made my votes count and through my uni course I’ve been imbued with a great sense of climate anxiety. More globally knowledge has allowed us to comprehend this issue at a planet wide scale and also allowed us to see the solutions we need. There is a wealth of diverse knowledge out there, all of which is needed to tackle this issue. Of particular note is recognition of ingenious landowner practises and the benefit they have for their respective environments. It is my goal to inform myself of a new fact, problem, perspective or idea a week. And to then use that in my life and disseminate it forwards so we all have access to the knowledge we need to defeat this problem. This week I caught up on the podcast "How to Save a Planet", which I would recommend for anyone seeking actionable advice on the topic !

My goal is to incorporate knowledge and respect of First Nations people into my life and work. Specifically, I want to read writings and books by Indigenous authors to ensure I am respecting and learning from them. The first book on my list is 'Sand Talk' by Tyson Yunkaporta. From increasing my understanding, I want to go into the workplace actively contributing to create a socially inclusive society and incorporating indigenous knowledge to address the issues around climate change in Australia.

Approximately 8.2 million tons of food waste in Australia, ends up in landfill each year. Producing greenhouse gases when breaking down, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), which is 25 times more potent than CO2. These gases contribute to the environmental issue of GLOBAL WARMING, by absorbing the suns heat and warming the Earth. As the largest protectant to the health of the planet, as the human race it is now more important than ever to reduce our impact on the environment. The Australian Government is striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 28 percent below the 2005 levels, by the year 2030. I and us all can contribute to this goal through.... COMPOSTING and using COMPOSTABLE items I will be attempting to not only reduce my food waste, but ensuring that the food waste I do produce will be placed in my own compost. I will also be choosing to only purchase products and takeaway food options, in compostable packaging where possible; to also place in my compost and not contribute to packaging waste. I will encourage and educate those around me, throughout the Monash community and further, to also take this step in environmental sustainability, and ensure people are aware of the difference between biodegradable and compostable when purchasing items to be more sustainable, as well as learn easy tasks to implement into daily life in relation to composting and compostable items.

Looking after the environment is something that should bring people of all beliefs together. At a governmental level, this is of course never the case. However, at a local and communal level, we can work together to depoliticise environmentalism. Institutionalising sustainable practices is one way we can ensure individual responsibility. By breaking down what seems like a big goal into bite-sized, actionable, specific, and time-bound steps, we can collectively engage in protecting our environment. I want to work with, educate, and be educated by others as to the best means to achieve this goal.

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