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Writer's pictureAudrey Wang

SDG Newsletter - Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Updated: Apr 29, 2023

February 13, 2023



Thank you for attending Discussion 2: People!

Thank you to everyone who made it to our second discussion last weekend. With your participation, we held a nuanced international dialogue about about the people-related SDGs (1-5). We also hosted a panel on how equitable practices have been implemented in banking and science, as well as the importance of a global perspective in both the business and tech sectors. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did! A recording of the event can be found on our Youtube channel.

 

Goal 12 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs The UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 12 aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, attempting to change the root of some planetary and ecological crises for the better. Contributing pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss, unsustainable production and consumption patterns continue to harm our planet’s ecology and environment. Due to the boom in our heavy reliance on various natural resources, the problem of scarcity is more imminent than ever before. Yet, we still waste 86.7% of global food production before the food reaches the market. Indeed, this figure is equivalent to dumping 16 bottles of milk into the trash bin out of every 20 we produce. Then, we waste another 17% of food after it reaches the dinner tables of the public. Globally, we failed to manage the safety of about 22.8% of our electronic waste despite some being inimical and some reusable. By cutting our waste and managing our relationship with wastes and resources smartly and by implementing the concept of “sustainability” during every step along the global supply chain, we can have a chance to mitigate the damages of our planetary crises.


How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftovers - The New York Times Inspired by their young daughter, the Savage family is fighting against food waste through lifestyle changes such as eating smaller portions and then going back for more, packing leftovers for lunch, and cooking recipes that were sure to be quickly finished by the family. Riley Savage, a fourth grader in Ohio, had recently learned about the harmful impacts of food waste– rotting food creating methane, a greenhouse gas– as well as the number of people on this planet who still don’t have enough to eat, and was determined to do something about it. As the environment declines further, more and more Americans are finding out about the harmful impacts of food waste on the environment. For example, food waste is responsible for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as commercial aviation– leading some climate experts to believe that reducing food waste is a serious potential way to combat climate change. In Columbus, Ohio, where the Savage family lives, different agencies, such as the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, or SWACO, has attempted to raise public awareness through comparing the results from self-reported surveys on the amount of food waste generated by a family with actual data collected by their team (who manually plunged into residents’ garbage cans and retrieved each individual bit of waste for examination). Schools in the area have also taken measures to reduce food waste, such as teaching children early about separating recyclables, compost, and garbage, as well as creating “share piles” for unopened snacks that would otherwise be thrown away.


Sustainable Manufacturing: Fixing The Factory Floor For the world, environmental issues are a cause worthy of attention. In the United States, the greenhouse gas emissions caused by food waste are caused by commercial aviation. Some experts believe that reducing food waste is one of our best shots to deal with climate change. In the United States, 39 percent of the food left in the family is discarded because it cannot be eaten up. The proportion of food waste exceeds that of restaurants, grocery stores, and farms. Therefore, change means changing the deep-rooted habits of hundreds of millions of individuals, communities, and farms family. The Central Ohio Solid Waste Administration had to try a different strategy to persuade. Although it was not the only agency in the country urging people to reduce food waste, it was one of the few agencies that measured the effectiveness of its public awareness activities. The first step of the aircraft department is to launch a public awareness campaign, which has played a great role for children. It is very difficult to persuade adults to do things in different ways. Changing the behavior of thousands of households may be a difficult task, but changing the behavior of a family can only be completed by one child. Food waste is closely related to everyone around us. In terms of caring about food waste, we should not stop advocating it, but implement it in our behavior. We also call on more communities or cities to have plans and projects to help residents or enterprises reduce food waste.

 

Further Reading

 

Want to learn more? Join us for a discussion to collaborate with students across the world, engage in new perspectives on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and connect with UNA-USA officials and members throughout the country.

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