Guide to climate action

Professor Rob Raven at Monash’s Sustainable Development Institute says that when it comes to the climate emergency, every action counts – but not every action is equal. Which is why Monash Life has talked to the experts to bring you your definitive guide to the changes that count.

Small changes to everyday habits matter

“We live in a global capitalist system that relies on fossil fuels, and it’s a world of mass and excess consumption and high waste,” says sociologist Professor Jo Lindsay, whose work focuses on consumption and the environment. “These systems aren’t easy to opt out of – it’s like swimming against the tide.”

Lindsay and her colleagues at the School of Social Sciences are interested in what tackling climate change looks like in real life, rather than in theory. Their research revealed that households attempting ‘low-waste living’ found fundamental changes – like trying to completely avoid plastic packaging – were extremely difficult to achieve. “It’s very hard to live in a sustainable way when you’re in a system that’s not sustainable,” she says.

What did work were smaller, incremental changes that had local support. Lindsay says mobility, food waste and construction are three big targets for changes in everyday life. So that could be using a compost heap to reduce food waste going to landfill, buying food from local markets and producers, riding your bicycle or walking occasionally instead of taking the car, or reusing building materials as much as possible. “For the people in our research, it was just about being focused on the differences that you can make, and supporting campaigns for change,” she says.

Being a more conscious consumer also means challenging the idea that we always need to buy new things, instead of repairing or repurposing the old ones. Dr Darren Sharp, Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, says there’s a rise in grassroots sustainability innovations – such as repair cafés and tool libraries, for example – that are helping to keep goods out of landfill by repairing them, and reducing consumption through borrowing rather than buying.

Monash’s Circular Economy Textiles team are researching how Australia’s fashion and textiles industry can move to a more circular mode of production and consumption, and eliminate textiles waste altogether.

Companies such as:

• Denimsmith, an ethical fashion brand recently accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia, who have created a ‘repair and re-wear’ service that provides customers their first repair free of charge, and $40 for subsequent repairs, or
• Sydney fashion outlet The Social Outfit, which makes its products out of remnant and deadstock fabric to keep that material out of landfill.

Get yourself outside and into nature

When explorer and environmental advocate Jade Hameister (Bachelor of Commerce, 2023) saw first-hand the effect of global warming on the Earth’s precious and fragile polar regions, it was a powerful wake-up call. The young adventurer, who recently completed a commerce degree at Monash, became the youngest person to ski unsupported and unassisted to the North Pole, across Greenland and via a new route from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, by the age of 16.

It doesn’t mean a challenging expedition to the poles; Hameister advocates for everyone to get off their devices once in a while and go out into the natural world in their area. “We must urgently re-establish our connection to the natural world, whether it be by getting outside, spending time in green open spaces or by the sea, or going for a hike.”

Get everyone else involved

Sharp says that climate action is much more effective – and enjoyable – when you do it together. “While it’s important to eat a plant-based diet, reduce our car trips and air travel, there’s an exciting story to be told around mobilising our communities and our workmates and our neighbours to undertake a variety of different activities at scale,” he says.

Sharp leads the Net Zero Precincts ARC Linkage project that brings industry and government partners together with Monash. They're trialling and demonstrating sustainability initiatives through a Living Lab that can be a model for other communities around the world.

Monash already has a range of grassroots sustainability initiatives, including Monash Precious Plastic, which promotes the circular economy  and bicycle purchase and repair stations such as Uniride. It also nurtures permaculture and community gardens, such as the ones at Clayton campus, as part of its residential and learning spaces.

Assistant Professor Gabriela Fernando, from Monash University, Indonesia, sees the power in how local communities are responding to this challenge. “At the grassroots community level, you actually bring in the local context-specific knowledge,” says Fernando, whose research focuses on the intersection of climate change and health.

Communities coming together to take action on climate change can achieve so much more than individuals by themselves.

This is demonstrated by maize farmers in Sri Lanka who are collaborating to adapt their farming techniques, youth movements such as SEED – Australia’s first Indigenous youth-led climate network. We also see this in women-led climate campaigns, such as Greta Thunberg’s School Strike for Climate.

“It’s about expressing that collective voice in what is unfolding,” says Fernando, “having your point of view heard, laying out real needs and challenges, and then actually pushing for action at the highest levels of policy change.”

Vote with your wallet

What we buy, where we shop and how we invest sends signals to companies – and they are definitely taking note, says climate entrepreneur Matthias Muehlbauer (Master’s Accounting, 2013), co-founder of climate advisory and training firm OnePointFive in New York.

Lindsay agrees: “Businesses can’t operate unless they’ve got the support of consumers, and political parties and local governments can’t operate unless they’ve got support from the voters.” It can be difficult to judge just how ‘green’ a business is, but there are resources available, like the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s 2023 report on ‘greenwashing’.

Become a climate activist and advocate

From primary school children to grandmothers, climate activists are all ages and from all walks of life. “There are different ways for people to become active citizens and to help promote sustainability and take local actions that make a difference,” says Sharp.

Muehlbauer says advocacy and voting are two incredibly powerful ways that individuals can make a difference. The recent massive changes in the political winds in France and the United Kingdom, and the rise of the ‘teal’ independents in Australian politics, are evidence of the power of political action and advocacy.

But individuals can also be climate advocates within their own organisation. Muehlbauer’s company is working to train and activate 100,000 climate and sustainability professionals who can drive change from within industries, “which really helps scale up an individual’s contribution to climate action”.

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