Five Simple Ways to Contribute to the SDGs
On September 21, I attended “We the Future,” an event hosted by The Skoll Foundation, TED, and the United Nations Foundation. The event aimed to drive more global conversations in support of bold solutions around the world tackling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we — a group of four +SocialGood Connectors — enjoyed presentations from social entrepreneurs and activists, one audience member asked a question that got me thinking: How can we help with the work that you’re doing?
It’s a simple question but one that I’ve been asked many times. It’s telling of the gap between the nonprofit sector and ordinary citizens. After all, how often does anyone going through a regular work day contemplate the Global Goals? For most people, the SDGs seem a distant, utopian vision.
However, this isn’t entirely true. While the SDGs look at long term progress, it’s important to understand that we can contribute to them no matter where we are from and what kind of work we’re engaged in. Here are some simple ways to do our bit in our daily lives:
#1 Gender Equality (Global Goal 5)
When we talk about gender equality, there’s a lot that can be done in our day-to-day lives. Although a lot of progress has been made on gender equality, there’s a lot to be done. Today, women form 50% of the global population and yet do not enjoy equal access to fair wages, opportunities, and socioeconomic power to make choices. Small actions help in changing behaviors in checking the gender gap at home.
- Be aware of gender diversity at work. If your team doesn’t reflect diversity, start a conversation. Speaking up about diversity has pushed even big companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter to take notice of its diversity gap.
- Contribute to a local nonprofit of your choice that is focused on prevention and response work to tackle gender-based violence.
- Check your behavior at home: ask yourself if you are doing your fair share of household chores.
- If you are a parent, do not use gendered language when talking to children, instead try to encourage your child to pursue interests of their choice without treating them differently based on their gender.
#2 Health and Well-Being (Global Goal 3)
What’s life without good health and well-being? Global Goal 3 is one of the most ambitious targets in that it aims to end AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, and other deadly diseases by 2030. But good health still remains a privilege. Nearly 1.3 billion people around the world do not have access to basic healthcare and a large number of these people are in low and middle-income countries.
- Encourage your local school or the institution you work at to include healthy, affordable meals in their meal plans.
- Vaccinate your children.
- Support a local non-profit focused on fostering health in your community to reach out to those less fortunate than you are.
- Equip yourself with basic legal knowledge to report malpractice related to healthcare in your community.
#3 Responsible Consumption (Global Goal 12)
Yes, we all love to go shopping. It’s festival time and stores are advertising huge sales and goodies. Who can resist, right? Well, if we try hard enough, we can! Imagine this: if the global population were to reach 9.4 billion by 2070, we would not have enough natural resources to feed the population that inhabits Earth.
- Carry a reusable water bottle with you so that you can avoid buying plastic water bottles. This simple action can help keep plastic off the street and reduce the waste that goes into our oceans.
- Switch to energy efficient light bulbs at home. If we all switched to energy-efficient light bulbs, it is estimated that the world would save $120 billion annually.
- Try to shop second-hand. It’s worth it.
- Read labels. Educate yourself on the products you tend to constantly buy and be aware of the ethical practices of the companies you intend to purchase from.
For more simple tips, log on to the United Nations’ The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World which has fun, simple tips to do your daily bit for the SDGs.
Meera Vijayann writes on development and human rights.
