17 Goals For People, For Planet
The United Nations members set a 15 year goal to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere by year 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals they created are a universal call to action and need ambitious measures to deliver.
The 17 sustainable development goals to transform the world are:
GOAL 1: No Poverty
GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
GOAL 13: Climate Action
GOAL 14: Life Below Water
GOAL 15: Life on Land
GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
An innovative business started in 2015 by a visionary businessman from Venezuela made it his mission to serve the community in an eco-conscious and sustainable manner. Serving 18 cities in the Bay Area, Remoov is a service company that picks up, sells, donates or recycles all your unwanted items. By following this model they are able to substantially reduce product waste that would end up in landfills, increase reuse of items (secondhand shopping as well as donations to charities), at the same time as boosting revenue for their customers. Because of the environmentally conscious model they follow, Remoov finds themselves in alliance with several of the United Nations key sustainable goals for the planet.
Donate what you don’t use.
Globally, more than 700 million people, or 10 percent of the world population, live in extreme poverty, struggling to fulfil the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation. One out of five children live in extreme poverty. Even for those who work, having a job does not guarantee a decent living. Preventing, managing, and overcoming situations that adversely affect children and other vulnerable groups is the critical action that is needed to reduce poverty.
“Donate what you don’t use.”– This is part of the NO POVERTY UN initiative. Remoov takes great pride in the amount of furniture, clothing, home goods, office equipment, and other items they have been able to donate to worthy charities around the Bay Area. As of 2020 they have donated over 41,500 items to almost a dozen different charities.
Billions of people do not have access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water, and more than 673 million people still practice open defecation.
- 1 in 4 health care facilities lacks basic water services.
- Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the global population and is projected to rise.
- 2.4 billion people lack access to toilets or latrines.
- More than 80 per cent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or sea without any pollution removal.
- Each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal diseases.
The UN’s 2030 goal is to improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, minimizing release of hazardous chemicals, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
Remoov is in perfect alliance with these goals of pollution reduction and promoting recycling and safe reuse of materials. Through their efforts Remoov has currently:
- Reduced 350 tons of CO2 from the environment (one of the main causes of global warming pollution).
- Saved over 200 ML of water.
- Reduced 600 KG of smog.
- Saved 10,000 trees.
- 560,000 cubic feet & tons from landfills.
UN key goal #12 asks us all as individuals, at a minimum, to recycle paper, plastic glass, and aluminum. Sustainable consumption and production is about doing more and better with less. This will help to lessen the destructive impact to the planet that mass production and consumption has on natural resources. Progress over the last century has been accompanied by environmental degradation that is endangering the very systems on which our future development and survival depend.
Waste facts:
- Each year 1.3 billion tons, worth about $1 trillion, of food ends up as waste.
- If the world changed to energy efficient light bulbs, we could save $120 billion annually.
This goal is about increasing resource efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles.
Sustainable consumption and production can also contribute substantially to poverty alleviation and green economies.
Remoov strongly supports this initiative and the numbers prove it. To date, they have repurposed, recycled, and given new life to over 2,000 metric tons of materials.
The Importance of Recycling
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the benefits of recycling are:
- Saving energy
- Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
- Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals
- Helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in United States
- Recycling old furniture, which is Remoov’s top service, the EPA notes in one year: “…that furniture accounted for 9.8 million tons of household waste.”
Sustainable Consumption
On average, about 50% of the items Remoov picks up are collected for resale, 20% for donation, and 30% responsible disposal. Choosing second hand is one way that we can all play a part in shifting to more sustainable consumption and helping to build back better from the pandemic.
Buying Second Hand- A Sustainable Choice
Remoov’s resale outlet, The Local Flea, is a warehouse sized consignment store that is a recycling and environmentally conscious organization, helping those who are downsizing, reorganizing- closing storage units or offices, profit from items they no longer want. In the end, they are keeping reusable items out of our landfills. Every purchase you make contributes to a shared mission of sustainability.
Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone everywhere. With the warmest years ever recorded, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise to all time high records. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, and weather events are becoming more extreme. Climate change disrupts national economies and dramatically impacts individual lives. Climate FAQ.
Besides making the decluttering process hassle-free, Remoov also wanted to offer this service in an eco-responsible manner. And they have done just that by reducing waste and increasing reuse. Their business has removed over 350 tons of carbon dioxide has from the environment. This is equal to what 650,000 trees absorb in one year.
SUMMARY
There are many ways for individuals to join the Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the United Nations. From monitoring food waste, to volunteering in your community, to voting for clean initiatives, to being ecologically aware, such as buying second hand items before automatically purchasing something new. There is so much ‘stuff’ in the world, do we really need to buy new before using what’s already available? We are all in this together and need to do our part to ensure the earth remains an inhabitable world.
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