Recycling has been going on for centuries even though many people perceive that the action began in the latter half of the 20th century. Victorian, financially stable 19th century women recycled clothing from the standpoint that they sent valuable dresses back to the designer to update the clothing item when styles changed. The idea of recycling just changed at the end of the 20th century to manage the vast amount of garbage humans were producing. Istanbul, Turkey recently implemented vending machines in subway station to help with recycling. They are especially valuable because those who do not have the means to buy a subway ticket can recycle bottles in exchange for a trip. Plastic bottles and aluminum cans are accepted, though aluminum has a higher yield. The city plans to have more than 100 machines throughout subway stations to both maintain environmental health and to inform people about the urgency of recycling.

Essentially I focused on the goal of gender equality in my report. And mostly surrounding the thought that sexual violence, and violence in general, towards males and females is essentially what is going to hold that goal back from being achieved. I reiterated the fact that we need to greatly decrease or eliminate entirely the practice of victim blaming and need to institute a safe way for survivors to come forward. We have all heard this statistic, but its worth repeating that 1 in five women will experience rape in her lifetime, and 1 in 71 men will experience rape in their lifetimes. Sexual assault and rape cases are America’s most expensive crimes, costing the country around 127 billion dollars, and even then that number doesn’t nearly include the amount of cases that are un-reported. Because, the truth is, we won’t be able to start on gender equality in earnest unless we first handle the issues surrounding sexual, and non, violence towards women and men.

The number 6 “Global Goal” decided by world leaders in 2015 was Clean Water and Sanitation. By 2030, the goal is that clean water and sanitation facilities will be available and properly managed for everyone. According to the United Nations, every 3 out of 10 people (which is equal to approximately 2.259 billion people) do not have access to safe and clean drinking water and every 6 out 10 people (which is equal to approximately 4.518 billion people) lack access to proper sanitation facilities. Lacking access to clean water and sanitation facilities causes diarrhoeal diseases, which over 800 children die from each day due to lack of access.

So what can we do? Simple lifestyle changes can make a difference. Water waste is a prevalent issue in America. The EPA estimates that household leaks alone generate water waste of about 180 gallons per week for the average American household. One load of laundry uses about 20 gallons, so the average American household is wasting the amount of water equivalent to 9 loads of laundry per week. This can be solved by simply checking for leaks, and replacing old faucets and showerheads with newer, more sustainable and efficient ones.  In addition, turning off the faucet when brushing one’s teeth can save 8 gallons of water per day. Turning off the faucet while shaving can save an additional 10 gallons of water per shave. Simple and minor lifestyle changes might seem insignificant on a daily basis, but if we stick to them, and encourage others to do the same, they will add up and make a real difference.

Not all energy standards in all countries around the world are the same as the U.S. so it is important to note the different perspectives there are with regard to access to renewable energy. Many developed countries have renewable energy goals in place such as Germany and China but their goals are vastly different than the goals of developing countries such as countries in Africa, whose goals include access to any sort of energy, let alone renewable.  For example, as explained in the UN Environmental Guide for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Laws, Ghana’s electricity supply capacity could not keep up with Ghana’s strong economic growth and increased electricity demand in the 1980s and 1990s. Ghana suffered blackouts which negatively affected the country’s economy so since then Ghana implemented the first standards and labelling to help solve the crisis in 2000 and their goal is to use energy more efficiently in a limited sense and renewable energy is not mentioned in the standards.  But in China’s case, the country has already surpassed its 2020 solar panel target and is accounting for over 40 percent of the total global clean energy mix by 2022, according to author Rob Smith’s 2018 World Economic Forum study. The global perspective of Goal 7 is different based on different countries’ economic status and geographic location but mostly all countries are conscious and aware of the need to become more energy efficient and to reduce energy consumption overall.

As studied in Project 2: Population Growth, Ecological Footprints and Biocapacity, there is a difference between attempting to decrease energy consumption in a country per capita and decreasing the total energy consumption.  The per capita energy consumption is the total energy consumption divided by the population. Globally, the population is increasing at a faster rate than the total energy consumption of the world so there is a decline in the per capita energy consumption.  This will result in an overshoot which is when humanity’s demand for energy exceeds the supply of energy sources. However through global initiatives the global community is trying to reverse this overshoot. Some of the global energy initiatives include: the International Energy Agency, which includes 29 countries whose motto is “Secure, Sustainable, Together”; the UN; the Global Energy Initiative whose motto is “Towards a Low-Carbon Century”; and many more.  In the New York State alone there is a goal to reach 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 so there is an obvious movement to become more energy efficient and to encourage renewable energy usage to achieve Goal 7 and with the support of all governments, businesses, civil society and the general public the Goal 7 will be achieved.

Global awareness is defined as the knowledge surrounding certain concepts that impact the world: socially, politically, environmentally, and economically. The world leaders created 17 goals that they want to achieve by 2030. Each of these 17 goals are interrelated and can be thought about in terms of global awareness.

When considering the 17 goals, many of them are related to combating climate change. One of their goals is to seek out more affordable and clean energy. We also looked at this issue in class because there are so many forms of sustainable energy that I never considered myself. Such as wave energy which has the potential to produce a lot of energy on the coasts. The leaders define the goal relying on more affordable and clean energy types as “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.” In order for this goal to be met, we can all make specific efforts such as being mindful of the energy we are putting out. In 2017, only 11.3% of our energy came from renewable sources. So it is clear that we rely on fossil fuels for majority of our energy. We need to support more sustainable methods. We can turn off the lights when we are not using them, we can buy rechargeable electronics, but most importantly we can stay informed and do all we can to support these efforts being made.

I chose climate action because to me, its the most pressing issue the list is trying to combat. Ice caps are melting at record pace  and the amount of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere is making the temperature Rise. I think that fixing this issue is the most difficult goal on the list because the change in climate can be attributed to more than one human action and in 2018 regulation is not easily passed by the government. The global awareness of this issue is high but, some countries disagree if global warming (Climate Change) is real or not. Because some countries have the perspective that Global Warming is not real it is difficult to truly fix the problem. For example, if you look at the countries with the most change in temperature they are also the ones who denounce global warming as being fake (China and USA). “According to scientists at the U.S Center for Atmospheric Research, if the current rate of global temperature rise continues, the Arctic will be free of Ice by 2040.” It is up to us to Reverse the effect of climate change through global engagement so that future generations will be able to live on earth.

The goal I decided to analyze is goal number 15, Life on Land. This goal sets out to, “protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” This goal is essentially promoting a healthy planet for everyone who inhabits it. Because we are all part of this world’s plethora of ecosystems, goal number 15 works to protect that ecosystem through a collaborative effort. At the global level, the world works together to fight these issues. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations works to enhance the productivity and sustainability of land use through the interaction between climate and human activities, and land resources.  They have created a model (below) to show this relationship. This organization works with the UN to fight climate change by implementing the most productive use of land according to biophysical and socio-economic conditions.  They do this to minimize land degradation, and to promote the rehabilitating of that land, and to promote the sustainable use of land uses as a whole.

Sustainable land use and management (human activities) decide the sustainability/resilience or degradation/vulnerability of land resources

Sources:

http://www.fao.org/land-water/land/sustainable-land-management/en/

https://www.globalgoals.org/15-life-on-land

Recycling on Union’s Campus