In my sustainability classes we look at the United Nations sustainable development goals. I think there are positives and negatives with the goals but one of their benefits is that they do introduce a broad perspective on sustainability. With that in mind, I thought that I would connect the different ideas from my posts this month to the goals. These are just the connections I’ve made, I’m sure there are others.
Day 1 Spend time in nature contributes to goal 3 good health and well-being. All of the posts connect to this one. But you can also connect it to life on land (goal 15) because we’re more likely to protect what we care about and goal 11 sustainable cities.
Day 2 spending time with animals connects to goals 3 and 15. Remember to keep the pets you live with safe and under control to protect wildlife.
Day 3 playing games can help support goal 4 quality education.
Day 4 about indoor plants is connected to goal 12 responsible consumption and production. Having a plant on your desk can help you avoid other productivity and focus aids like unnecessary snacks, reducing your consumption and improving your health.
Day 5 make or listen to music is connected to quality education as it can support learning but it also connects to reducing inequalities as we can use music as a means of cultural connection that can help us.
Day 6 eating fruits and vegetables connects to goal 2 zero hunger. Did you know that Canadian households waste almost 3 million metric tonnes of food per year? So try eating the imperfect fruits and veggies to keep them from going to waste and increase food availability for someone in your community.
I’m connecting day 7 sharing a meal to goal 17 partnership for the goals because food can bring us together and provide opportunities to kindle new and old partnerships.
Day 8 looks at our sleep. Like the others goal 3 is obvious but sleep impacts our education. It’s hard to learn (goal 4) or achieve decent work (goal 8) if you haven’t had enough sleep.
Day 9 was about goal setting and how visualizing the goal might be more effective than a to-do list. In one of my classes students can choose to visualize the future if the SDGs are achieved so I’m connecting this one to all 17 goals.
Learn something new for day 10 falls easily in quality education but have you ever thought about how inequality impacts someone’s ability to take on something new? I can learn a new instrument because I can access an instrument.
Have you considered how sustainable cities (goal 11) could influence your ability to be active (day 11)? Edmonton has an extensive river valley filled with trails but how you can get there is heavily influenced by the transportation networks in your community.
Day 12 looked at celebrating small wins. Sadly, COVID-19 has made for many sustainability wins. But, this semester my university introduced over 100 students to the 17 SDGs.
Day 13 (yesterday) was on curiosity. Curious people are more likely to be proactive. Isn’t that what we need for these goals?
Connecting with Science 
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