SDG 1: End poverty

Are you aware of underprivileged students who have been left behind during this pandemic and are unable to access the internet for online learning? As part of the growing phase, I realize how important education is and could be a life-changing event for most of us to have a better life for ourselves and our families. I am involved in a volunteering and community-based movement through an inspiring camp in Malaysia to support, empower and inspire underprivileged students. Our hope is to provide a positive impact on the lives of today's youth and to bring out the best of them for the nation.

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

As a part-time Food Service Assistant I am indirectly responsible for huge amounts of left-over good food being thrown into the thrash-bin every day. At home, I am directly responsible for a similar insensitive activity, though on a smaller scale. Walking through the streets of Melbourne, I have noticed that even in the midst of plenty, there is also poverty and hunger. I have always noticed people who are in need of or searching for food. I understand that most people feel guilty of wasting food; kind-hearted people who like to help the hungry do not know what to do with the good food they would otherwise have to throw into the dustbin. Now that Green Step has given me the opportunity to think about how to make a difference in the lives of children and marginalized people, the ‘food waste’ problem has thrown up a positive thought. The ‘problem’ I mentioned at the beginning can be turned into a solution for the hungry. Therefore, I will take my first step by providing food to the hungry in my locality with the edible food which I painfully dispose into the trash- bin. I am sure that other good-hearted people and institutions in the locality will also join. The extra food that usually goes to the waste bin from homes and institutions will go one more step before going to the waste bin (if there is anything leftover!). It will go to unmanned ‘food-available to anyone’ and ‘open display’ centers where anyone can come and put good food items and anyone who is hungry can come and take them away for free. I will start the first ‘food available to anyone’ center in front of my own residence. In the beginning, I will identify the ‘givers’ and the ‘takers’, move around, collect the food, and distribute. Later, I am sure that empathetic people will give space and facility to start collection centers where people can come and leave the food and the needy can come and take the food without hurting their self-image. So, there is one more stop-over for good food before it would have otherwise moved to the thrash-bin. And more than that, it brings joy and health to so many who would have gone to bed hungry.

Food production is a major driver of wildlife extinction. According to World Wildlife Fund, what we eat contributes to around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for 60% of the global diversity loss. This is why I have decided to move away from a meat-dominated diet to a more plant-based diet. I am going to eat sustainably sourced foods, buying from local produce in order to support local farmers and small businesses where possible. To start out, I will cut down my red meat consumption from 5 days a week to 2 days a week and after a month, further cut down to no meat. In addition, I am going to look out for the fair trade certification seal on foods to ensure I am not only tackling the issue of the conservation of the environment, but also poverty and poor working conditions.

Buy products from organisations that send profits to positive projects in 3rd world countries. Particularly those focussing on women's education.

For the longest time I have been researching and learning about the impact of agriculture towards global emissions and poverty. I am going to not have meat for this week and will see how long I can sustain it.

According to the Swinburne University's survey, 1 in 2 Australians report feeling more lonely since COVID-19. I was one of those who spent time with loneliness. During the lockdown, I gave back to the community and got to know my neighbors by donating household items and food to "The little free pantry", a donation box at a nearby church. I wanted to help those in need, and it was a great experience for me to see someone take home something I had donated. This kind of donation to the community not only reduces waste and improves public safety, but also has a great power to heal people's hearts. I think the reason for this is the warmth of the human connection between the donors and the recipients. It's a small step, but it was a big learning experience for me.

Develop a habit to eat vegetarian once a week on Monday for Monash students and staff. The restaurants in Monash will be asked to provide a vegetarian set which is Monday-only. Then I will promote this activity through social media to let people get this information. In addition, 10% of the revenue from those vegetarian sets will be sent to the organizations in need.

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.

As the fast fashion industry develops rapidly, more poor quality garments are produced, which can only be worn one or two years. I will reduce my consumption on fashion. Try to ask myself, who makes my clothes? Do they work in an ethical working environment? What's the cost? Try to give the second life to our old garments. So, the first step, I will donate my old clothes to the local charity. Or, I will recycle them.