If people around the world engage in small changes in their everyday life to live more sustainably, we could collectively make a large impact.

“I have always had a keen interest in protecting the environment and living a sustainable life.”

When I was ten years old, my family and I travelled back home to Pakistan for the summer. One night, I woke up feeling really hot and I realized the power had gone out. It was then that I realized that the power intentionally goes out one or two hours every day. This trip made me realize that in Canada, we are fortunate to have an unlimited amount of resources that are taken for granted and we should not use our resources carelessly.

With this in mind, I decided to enroll in the course SUSTAIN 2S03 at McMaster University.  At the start, I had hoped to develop a deeper understanding and gain knowledge about sustainability, but little did I know that I would actively participate in a sustainable lifestyle challenge of my own! The lifestyle challenge helped me to become more aware of my own impact, taught me to evaluate associated challenges and possible solutions for change, and inspired me to put the solutions into action.

In choosing my lifestyle challenge, I decided to walk around my house for inspiration and I noticed one trend –there were many appliances that were plugged in but not in use. It reminded me about his phenomenon discuss in class, called “phantom power”, which is the power consumed by electronic that are plugged in but not in use, and it can account for as much as 10% of a single households electricity bill!   This is energy we do not even use! I decided to unplug all devices in standby mode in my home. Eventually, unplugging devices became a part of my daily routine and I was motivated to complete my checklist daily. This course gave me the necessary tools to embark on other exciting sustainable challenges beyond the course! For instance, I created a strategic plan and proposal, which provided a framework for how I would carry out my challenge. Also, I gained insight on other creative sustainable challenges conducted by students in the class.

As for my challenge, I plan to continue it after the end of the course and begin another new challenge! If people around the world engage in small changes in their everyday life to live more sustainably, we could collectively make a large impact.

I think this course is an excellent place to test your perceptions, meet with other people from different disciplines and backgrounds, and have an interesting semester.

What stood out in this course compared to other courses you have taken at McMaster?
Sustain 2S03 is very results and applications focused course. Unlike many other courses, it challenges you to challenge yourself on how you can be more sustainable as a person, while also lecturing on a variety of useful and sustainable initiatives. Unlike other courses, the interdisciplinary element is prominent, bringing together engineers, humanities, social science, and a variety of other majors in one classroom.

Did your perspective on society (locally and globally) change after participating in SUSTAIN 2S03?
I feel like a majority of people who are considering taking a SUSTAIN course are already involved or aware to some degree of the importance of sustainability. For me coming from a humanities background, the lessons regarding ecological versus environmental economics were something I had never even considered properly before. This course does an excellent job of building on what you already know while expanding your knowledge in ways you don’t have formal training in.

If you could give any advice to a student interested in taking, or enrolled in preparation, for SUSTAIN 2S03, what would you say?
I would strongly recommend you take it! The course is open to everyone, and even if you don’t intend to continue with Sustainability or pursue the Minor, I think this course is an excellent place to test your perceptions, meet with other people from different disciplines and backgrounds, and have an interesting semester. If you have limited electives to take, I think this course offers a lot.

It was really rewarding to take what I was learning in class and use it to make significant lifestyle changes.

“I’ve always been passionate about sustainability and how I can reduce my ecological footprint.”

When I found out that McMaster offered courses and a minor in sustainability, I jumped at the opportunity and enrolled in SUSTAIN 2S03. As part of the course, we got to choose a semester long lifestyle challenge, where we changed one aspect of our lives to be more sustainable. My lifestyle challenge was to go plastic-free. It was a rewarding and satisfying experience to take action by challenging the wasteful lifestyle habits that had become so ingrained and a normal part of everyday life.

After learning more about sustainability and identifying ways that I could incorporate sustainable behaviour into my daily life, I found myself using my reusable mug much more often and being thoughtful about purchases I made. I would use my mason jar at Bulk Barn to stock up on dry foods, use glass jars that I can return for a deposit, and take the paper alternative wherever possible (which I would compost after). It was really rewarding to take what I was learning in class and use it to make significant lifestyle changes. I would encourage any McMaster student that has an interest in sustainability from a health, economic, societal, or environmental perspective to enroll in a sustainability course!

One thing I really enjoyed about SUSTAIN 2S03 course was the personal lifestyle challenge.

I can say that completing this lifestyle project gave me one of the purest forms of education through experience that I’ve ever had in university & I will look back fondly as I continue learning more.

“My introduction to sustainability was on a mere whim of curiosity.”

As a life science student, I was very accustomed to textbook based content and memorization. SUSTAIN 2S03 had no tests or exams, but instead, the course revolved around a lifestyle project driven by personal experience.

At the time, I was a very unhealthy person especially in regards to my diet and also due to a business that I ran, I was consuming massive amounts of electricity from multiple computers and lights constantly being used. SoI decided to make my sustainability lifestyle challenge about reducing my consumption of electricity and meat. To understand how much I was consuming I monitored my meat intake for a week and calculated my weekly consumption of electricity using general electricity statistics. From there I set a goal to reduce my consumption of both these things by 30%.

As the term progressed I came to realize a few things. First was how my consumption of electricity at the beginning of the year was so wasteful. Out of habit I found myself leaving computers running or having lights left on when I was not not in the room. The second thing I realized was how my life had been greatly benefited from adopting a slightly more sustainable lifestyle. Especially in regards to meat consumption, which snowballed into losing weight, getting motivated to exercise, and finding alternative delicious recipes to replace the meat I was consuming. With regards to electricity use, this challenge pushed me to be more efficient with my energy consumption which enabled me to save over $200 a year. SUSTAIN 2S03 has changed my life so drastically from someone who knew close to nothing about the environment and its relation to economics and people, I can say that completing this lifestyle project gave me one of the purest forms of education through experience that I’ve ever had in university and I will look back fondly as I continue learning more.