The crisis of awareness of environmental sustainability is an up-to-date problem because the earth is getting older and humans need radical changes that promote awareness of the importance of preserving the environment. Changes in patterns and lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly for life sustainability become personal awareness in society and even have to be institutionalized and even be a new culture of postmodern society. This awareness inspires human life, starting from the consumption of basic needs, energy consumption, technology use, household equipment needs, use of transportation facilities, building arrangement and home care, agricultural patterns and other livelihoods, industrial development, business development, organizational development, economics, politics, and education.
Considering such a problem, Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta discussed Responsible Consumption and Production at Wisma Pojok Indah (19/02/2022). In the opening, Trustha Rembaka, S.Th (coordinator of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta) introduced the institution and mapped the participants’ understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some participants admitted that they had just heard this, but were interested in exploring it.
In the discussion process, each participant from various regions in Indonesia who was studying in Yogyakarta revealed what they consumed and what they produced. Each expressed different answers. Ika from Lampung admitted that she consumes more than she produces, from food, beverages, water, soap, shampoo, electricity, internet quota, news, and fuel. She hoped to be a more responsible person in consumption and production.
Suparlan, S.Sos.I, MA from the Sheep Foundation Yogyakarta and the WALHI Jogja Council, as resource persons for the discussion, said that being an environmentalist is easy. Environmentalists exist because of global warming and climate change that is happening in the world today. It happens due to the rampant global development and industrial revolution without paying attention to environmental sustainability. Agriculture suffers from the impact of climate change and global warming from seasonal changes, changes in water availability, and pest and disease attacks that trigger crop failure. The far-reaching impact is food insecurity and the threat of hunger. So, it is appropriate that responsible consumption and production become one of the points of the SDGs to make the global community aware of responsible consumption and production patterns.
The higher the individual consumption, the greater the exhaust emissions released into the atmosphere. The accumulation of exhaust gases causes global warming and climate change. Worse, the world is trapped in the greed of capitalists who dredge nature without considering its sustainability. In group activities, participants counted the carbon produced from their daily activities. For example, the use of one rice cooker for 1 hour produces 267 grams of CO2. Let us imagine how much CO2 the world's population produces just from using a rice cooker!
Rev. Bambang Sumbodo, S.Th, M.Min., the board of Stube HEMAT guided participants to reflect on what people need today. It is important to have an awareness mindset toward a better and environmentally friendly life. Life is no longer oriented to momentary profits but sustainable thinking to maintain the sustainability of nature and the environment. Various findings about the impact of global warming, irresponsible consumption and production and the resulting carbon should make all participants rethink their way of life. ***
