Blog 1: My First Adventure with UNSDGs
- Xavier Lim
- May 1, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: May 5, 2024
Me and my goals
Hi everyone, my name is Xavier Lim and I am currently a Year 2 Chemical Engineering Student. To start my first blog, I would like to share more about myself such as some of my hobbies and favourite food. Aside from the busy life as a Chemical Engineering student, I enjoy going to the gym to exercise, cooking, reading manga and manhwa, and visiting new places to eat, and some of my favorite foods are ice cream, chocolate, and pasta.
Throughout this module, I hope that I will gain a better understanding of our UNSDGs and how it can help my group and I create a chemical product that will help the people in our community. When the finalised chemical product the my group and I have designed can bring out the effort of the community in achieving the UNSDGs, I believe that I have accomplished my goals. Hence, I hope that throughout this Chemical Product Design journey, I can contribute to our community and help achieve our UNSDGs through the efforts and designs that my group and I will come up with.
Are the UNSDGs too ambitious? As 2030 draws closer, we begin to question if our UNSDGs can be achieved. These 17 sustainable goals range from making drinking water and sanitation available for all to combating climate change to gender equality. I believe that these virtuous goals were made with the intention of ensuring the sustainable development of every nation, its people, and the world. However, I also believe that these goals may be too ambitious as every participating country is limited by its problems and constraints.
One of the biggest problems that prevents every nation from achieving their UNSDGs is money. Currently, our world is run by money. Everything that we need in our daily lives is contributed by a common source which is money. Money allows us to get clean drinking water and sanitation. Even aid money that comes from wealthier countries often has hidden intentions that add more financial stress on the poorer country. To make things worse, when Covid-19 became a pandemic, poor countries became even poorer which made getting clean water and sanitation even harder. Hence, with the lack of financial resources, basic necessities remain inaccessible, hindering the progress of every nation from reaching its goals.
All in all, the intentions of the UNSDGs are pure and I believe that as long as we do not give up, one day we will be able to achieve those goals. It may not be achieved by 2030, but we will definitely be able to achieve it as everyone continue to contribute and make advancements into a more sustainable future.
Exploring the National Museum
On April 23rd 2024, my class and I visited the National Museum where we got to the world before plastic existed and the world now built on plastic. Not only that, we also got to see how plastic has polluted and left its mark on our planet. During this trip, we got to experience how sorting plastic from land fills are like and why it was easier to burn trash instead of recycling through the help of a make-shift set up where a table is filled with objects typically found in landfills.
We also visited a section of the museum where we got to see the life before plastic was invented. In this section, we got to see the materials that were used to make basic household items such as combs, scissors and mirrors. For example, cow horns were used to make combs and scissors and ivory of elephants were used to make jewellery.
Not only that, even the saps of insects were used as materials in making hand mirror frames and tortoise shells were used to make spectacle frames.
Beyond the section where life before plastic was invented, was the life after plastic was invented. In the 19th Century, plastic became increasingly popular and had many applications which involves warfare and household items. For example, a type of plastic called Bakelite are used to make helmets and weapons in the military and used to make combs in household applications.
Having explored the National Museum and learning more about life before and after plastic, I was able to gain better insight on what the world needs. Through this experience, I was also able to come up with chemical product designs that make use of the 3Rs (Recycling, Reusing & Reducing).
All in all, I found the trip to the National Museum to be very enriching and inspiring as we learn about how plastic affects our daily lives and how everyone has a role to play in achieving sustainability. Even big companies Nike and Addidas are making efforts in achieving sustainability through the use of the 3Rs. Hence, as an individual, we should join the motion and take steps in being sustainable!
Why UNSDG 7?
One UNSDG that my group and I have chosen is Affordable and Clean Energy. The reason why we chose this UNSDG is due to its high relevance to Singapore. Singapore is known as a small yet populated city worldwide and it has a limited source of energy. One such source of clean energy is solar energy which is harnessed using solar panels. However, installing these solar panels has its limits. Due to Singapore's land constraints, we have limited space to install solar panels on our lands. Hence, to tackle these problems, Singapore has been putting solar panels on the roofs of HDB buildings. These solar panels also act as a source of electrical energy for HDB buildings.
Why UNSDG 12?
Another UNSDG that my group and I have chosen is Responsible Consumption and Production. The reason why we chose this UNSDG is because Singapore has limited landspace but it produces around 7 million tonnes of waste. Not only that, Singapore also has only one landfill, Palau Semakau, which is predicted to fill up by 2035. This also means that by 2035, Singapore will run out of land for any waste storage and waste storage will start piling up on the main lands, resulting in pollution. Hence, before we reach 2035, we have to start conserving our resources and practice the 3Rs (Recycle, Reduce & Reuse) to ensure that we can live in a clean and sanitary Singapore and to reduce the pile-up of trash in Palau Semakau.
Chemical Device that can contribute towards UNSDG 7
A chemical device that can contribute towards UNSDG 7 is a solar-powered camera. In Singapore, multiple security cameras have been set up everywhere, ranging from places like HDB void decks to office buildings and coffee shops. With the large number of security cameras in Singapore, a large amount of electricity is also needed to power them. Hence, to make energy consumption in Singapore more sustainable, we should equip security cameras with solar panels.
To end my blog, I would remind everyone that the UNSDGs cannot be achieved overnight. This journey to attain sustainability will be a very slow and tedious process. However, we should look forward and continue to make those small changes in our lives to benefit our world. Eventually, these small changes will accumulate and make an even bigger difference. Hence, we should continue working towards our goal of sustainability to save our world.
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy the next one!
Yours truly,
Xavier
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