Cooking Yourself In Australia, Iqbaal Ramadhan: Just Enough

Iqbaal Ramadhan (Photo: IG @iqbaal.e)

JAKARTA - Iqbaal Ramadhan is trying to implement a sustainable lifestyle by doing small things, starting from always carrying your own drinking bottle wherever you go, having a tote bag ready to avoid using plastic bags, trying not to use air conditioning, to saving on water.

"I often mention this matter. Since the beginning of the pandemic, people have been like, 'Don't forget to wash your hands for 20 seconds'. But no one said, 'Don't forget to turn off the water when washing your hands for 20 seconds'. So the campaign is like washing hands but the water keeps on running," he said, quoted from ANTARA, Monday, May 30.

In addition, Iqbaal also started trying to reduce the intensity of shopping for new clothes or fast fashion outside of professional work. He admits that he doesn't have a problem with wearing secondhand clothes or thrift fashion.

“And again because I'm a student, I cook (while in Melbourne). It's also just enough to cook, so there's no trash left," he said.

According to Iqbaal Ramadhan, the consistent application of an environmentally friendly or sustainable lifestyle must start from building awareness of oneself by making changes to small things in everyday life.

“When I had that mindset, even when no one was watching and wasn't in the media spotlight or cameras, I would still do that. I hope we don't do it because of other people, we do it for ourselves because that's our value,” said Iqbaal.

When living a sustainable lifestyle that starts from oneself, according to Iqbaal, it means that it is done because it has the motivation to "want" to be an individual who has these values.

“This is about my values, about my life, about myself, how I contribute, how I want to have more value to this earth, how I want to contribute to reducing climate change, using single-use plastic, reducing food waste, and so on. ," he explained.

According to him, when change can be manifested in small things at the individual level, then the goal of creating change in even larger environmental issues, such as helping to limit climate change, can begin to grow at the collective level. He stressed that even the slightest change at the individual level would also have an impact.

“There must be an effect (that small change) even though it is not directly visible to the eye. So keep going what you are doing," said the 22-year-old actor who is currently studying in Melbourne, Australia.