Goals are powerful tools. They help us find and stay on a path to something we want. They help get us to where we want to go.

Goals are important for organizations, too. They allow groups of people to work together to achieve a common objective. Cooperation can’t happen without them.

What are Sustainable Development Goals?

Sustainable development will require a huge number of businesses and organizations to work together. Individuals, families, and communities will have to make choices. Action will be required on many different issues at the same time. The global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) help coordinate all this effort.

The SDGs identify 17 areas where change is needed for humanity to get on a path to sustainable progress. That path would end poverty and protect the planet. It would ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy peace and prosperity.

Remember sustainable development is the idea that people, businesses, communities, and nations meet their needs in ways that do not prevent other people – now or in the future – from doing the same.

How do the goals work?

Consider SDG number 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Consumption – everything we use – and production – everything we create – includes not only what we choose to buy and how it is made. It also includes how it is packaged and transported and what happens to it when we are finished with it.

Everything we use starts out as raw material. Those materials are turned into a product like a snack cake or a car. The product is then packaged and shipped to users. Once it is used or no longer wanted, it must be removed – trashed or recycled. This whole process is called a product life cycle.

Sustainable production and consumption would mean that every stage of a product’s life cycle is handled in ways that will not prevent people from living a safe and prosperous life – now or in the future.

This covers a lot of territory.

That’s why the SDGs include targets. These are more specific and focus on key changes that need to happen to achieve the overall goal. Goal 12 targets focus on topics like reducing food waste, managing chemicals, reducing waste, and educating the public.

What can engineers do with SDGs?

The SDGs and their targets provide starting points for identifying problems or opportunities to improve things. Just consider the following questions inspired by the goal 12 targets:

• How can we improve packaging to allow food to stay fresh longer?
• How can we create spaces for food production in urban areas?
• How can we reduce the amount of packaging we use on products?
• How can we use fewer synthetic chemicals to do a task?
• How can we make it easier for people to buy only what they need?

You can probably think of many more questions like these.

Engineers in many different career fields –agricultural, chemical, civil, earth resources, industrial, and material – are working on finding the answers.

For example, engineers around the world are finding new uses for recycled plastic. They've developed fabric for bags and socks and lumber for signs and funiture. They've even developed a process for converting plastic bags into fuel. Engineers are also working on ways to produce plastic so that it is easier to reuse in new products.

What are some ways that you can help reduce waste in your daily life?
What tools or technologies could help you?

Next: Sustainable Engineering Design