Reflective Journal - Entry 1

 - November 24, 2022

NAME : Nur Alya Sofiah bt Ismail

MATRIC NO : 2116460

SECTION : 503

Prior to the start of the class, I was unfamiliar with the term sustainable and had no idea how it worked. My lecturer used a lot of his knowledge and experience to help me understand what sustainable meant.

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without jeopardizing future generations' ability to meet their own needs. Over the course of six weeks, I learned about sustainability. We began by learning about how the concept of sustainable development came to be, why we need to be aware of the three pillars of SDGs (economy, social, and environment), and the concept of Maqasid as-syariah.

One of the issues that came to mind was the problem of plastic waste. When I buy food in mahallah cafes and other stores during my stay, I frequently use more plastic than I should. Since I couldn't afford a food container to store my purchased food because it is over my budget and I need to save money, I experimented with other methods, such as building an eco-brick. An ecobrick is a plastic bottle packed with used plastic to a set density. I can recycle plastic more effectively and efficiently with eco-brick.

Using eco-bricks is actually beneficial, especially when recycling waste. Because the eco-brick is already filled with plastic bags and plastic wrap, I can easily separate the trash waste. Furthermore, when I see how much trash I put in eco-brick, I can see how much plastic I used in my daily life. This will help me to be more cautious about what I buy in the future and how I dispose of it.

This recycling practices may influence how I handle plastic waste in the future. However, there are some things I can do better in the future, such as bringing my own food container to a cafe and reducing my use of plastic bags. I'm hoping that my newfound knowledge from this subject will enable me to live a more sustainable lifestyle and contribute to the sustainability of the world.