SDG 14: Sustainable oceans

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.

I've collected 30 coffee cup from different cafe around Melbourne in the past few months. In the following 30 days, i will paint an ocean creature living in Australia on each of the cup everyday, and post the cup painting as a diary everyday on the social media. To raise people’s awareness of coffee cup production’s harm to the ocean sustainability. “A cup for my daily coffee, a cup for the life in the ocean.” Even though many companies are calling for coffee cup recycling today, and many of us is using our own coffee cup, there is still large amount of plastic lids and paper cups being wasted and decomposite in the solid or ocean. Many over-wasting and over-packing phenomenon need to be censored. Especially those waste hidden behind the promotion of so-called “sustainable, recyclable product” No matter it is paper, plastic or recycle material, the more convenience these containers bring, the more harm it brings to these mystery residencys of the ocean.

Plastic and waste production is a known issue in the world. Plastic is a great contributor to marine pollution all over the world. I want to take a personal step to reduce my plastic consumption. I believe that by consciously taking reusable bags while shopping can make a great impact as well. In addition, using a reusable water bottle, using wooden toothbrushes are all easy and convenient alternatives to their harmful plastic counterpart. I will continue to take a step to reduce my plastic consumption as well as spread awareness about the issue of our consumption.

I started my journey to be pescatarian a few months ago and I'd like to take a further step to reduce my daily consumption as well. -Replace dairy milk with plant based milks. - Find more recipes to focus on whole, plant based foods.

70% if the birds on earth are only there because humans put them there to eat (most of the 70% are chickens). There are substantial greenhouse emissions that come solely from meat production and delivery. I aim to become vegetarian by the end of the year.

Using and selling reusable shopping bag for shopping to solve plastic bag pollution and support equality education for orphans.

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.

Every year approximately 3000 million tons of plastic waste is produced worldwide, in which 8 million tons ends up in our oceans. From 2016-2017 Australians generated approximately 2.5 megatons of plastic waste which equates to 103 kilograms per capita. Over the next decade this plastic epidemic is expected to soar a further 40%. We are able to curb our plastic waste generation by turning to long lasting eco-friendly products. Reducing the usage of single-use plastics in our daily lives saves money in the long term, lessens marine pollution and decreases atmospheric carbon released from mass landfill burning. A major factor of plastic waste generation is the use of clingwrap for food covering. Eco-friendly alternatives for clingwrap include beeswax wraps, biodegradable and vegetable based cling wraps, reusable silicon stretch lids and hessian bags for storing fruits and vegetables. We can also transform our daily lives by using practical and sustainable products such as umbrellas and razors made from recycled plastics, bamboo toothbrushes, stainless steel water bottles and straws, plus shampoo bars. We can even start investing in a circulatory economy that allows us to reuse plastic bottles (detergent, shampoo, conditioner, hand sanitizer etc.) without continually re-buying the plastic product. Biodegradable packaging and Styrofoam that sustainably breaks down are also becoming increasingly popular and should be preferred when purchasing online.

Single use plastics are primarily made from fossil fuel-based chemicals (petrochemicals). Plastic bags can take over 500 years to degrade, and even then, often break down and release other toxic chemicals to the environment. In 2016, over 160 million metric tons of single use plastics were produced globally. These plastics are unsustainable by nature and using reuseable products is much better for the environment. I will stop using single use plastics and other disposable objects, such as glad wrap, single use face masks, plastic bags, takeaway cutlery/containers, single use coffee cups and plastic water bottles. Instead, I will use reusable Tupperware containers, washable face masks, beeswax wraps, my keep cup and reuseable water bottles to reduce the amount of waste and plastics that is polluting our planet.

As someone who has grown up in a family that eats meat every day, the thought of going vegetarian has never seemed realistic. Food, and consequently meat consumption, is ingrained in both my parents’ culture and upbringing. My goal is to cook vegetarian for three nights a week for my family. While I won’t be committing to a completely vegetarian diet, I hope that by cooking for my family I can reduce our collective household meat consumption permanently through some small, first steps. It will not only result in more healthier eating, but also reduce our impact on the environment through a commitment that is achievable by all of us. Rather than focusing on changing solely my individual eating habit, I believe it would be more impactful to create collective change to a wider group (my family) beyond just myself. By introducing three meat-free days a week, I hope that the transition will seem less confronting and a lot more achievable for my family, so they are more likely to jump on board.