Supporting the UN SDGs

Helping people, places and the planet

WaterUps can help with Six UN SDGs

 

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs were established in 2015 – co-incidentally the same year that WaterUps was formed – to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

Our founding mission was to provide innovative sustainable solutions for improving food security, urban greening, and water management. Being more sustainable is certainly the zeitgeist of the 21st century.

At WaterUps we see our business supporting six of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Goal 2

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Here’s what we know:

The global pandemic exacerbated world hunger. After 2020 there were 20% more people (811 m) suffering from malnutrition compared to 607M in 2014. 

Here’s where we come in: 

WaterUps is aimed at boosting food security in every family and community. Early adopters of WaterUps have been home gardeners wanting to grow more nutritious vegetables. During Covid-19 in 2020 many people purchased WaterUps systems specifically to grow their own food. During this time WaterUps has also been used extensively for school and communal edible gardens. From this foundation we are looking to work with Aid organisations to provide WaterUps food gardens to refugee camps and other disaster affected situations to provide a fresher source of vegetables. We also know that interaction with plants is also therapeutic and can provide many ancillary psychological benefits. 

Goal 6

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Here’s what we know:

129 countries are NOT on track to have sustainable managed water resources by 2030. According to the United Nations, the current rate of progress needs to double.

Here’s where we come in: 

WaterUps enables a water capture solution for rainfall. With its reservoir system it can be used in rain gardens, roof gardens, commercial gardens, and home gardens to store rainwater connected to tanks and downpipes system – boosting the water storage capacity of every building. When it comes to watering plants, WaterUps uses 20% of the watering requirements of a traditional surface-down watered garden. In Australia, the average household uses 900 litres of water per week. (Source: ). With watering of residential gardens using around half the daily water consumption, WaterUps offers an infinitely better way to manage this scarce resource. You only have to look at what happened to Cape Town in 2016 to understand what a critical issue this is to urban water supplies.

Goal 9

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Here’s what we know:

In 2020 Global manufacturing fell 6.8% as a result of Covid-19. It was the manufacturing of medium-and high-tech products that fuelled recovery in late 2020 resulting in a 4% growth

Here’s where we come in: 

WaterUps supports this SDG through our products which are made in Australia using advanced technology processes that make recycled plastic strong and durable.

WaterUps supports 6 UN SDGs including helping to enable more sustainable cities and communities (goal 11).

Goal 11

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Here’s what we know:The average global share of urban areas allocated to streets and public spaces is 16% which is short of the targets of 30% for streets and 15% for open public spaces. By 2050 70% of the world’s populations will live in cities, increasing the carbon toll on cities and strains on natural environments.

Here’s where we come in: Enabling more resilient and sustainable cities is one of the most critical SDGs and key to what WaterUps is about, particularly with the work we are doing with local councils, property developers, architects and landscapers.

We are working to enhance urban greening and cool buildings, provide water capture systems that can even be incorporated into storm water management, and facilitate street and community garden beds.

Goal 12

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Here’s what we know:

From 2000 to 2017 our global material footprint and use of plastics increased by 70%. Worldwide, every minute 1 million plastic drink bottles are purchased, and 5 trillion single use plastic bags are thrown away every year.

Here’s where we come in: 

We are making our wicking cells, planters, and sub-irrigation channels out of 100% recycled plastic, diverting plastic from landfill to a productive recycled use.

Goal 13

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Here’s what we know:

The climate crisis continues largely unhalted. The world is woefully off track to stay at or below 1.5 degrees C. The highest priorities areas are food security and production, freshwater resources and terrestrial and wetland eco-systems.

Here’s where we come in: 

We are working to offset the heating impact of climate change by helping to create cooler green cities with rooftop and open garden spaces. Creating more green spaces is one of a number of measures to create more livable cities. We are making it viable for nearly every home and business to have more greenery to clean the air from smog, create more temperate stable micro-climates and greater food security.

Advancing SDGs

At WaterUps we believe that supporting the UN SDGS is not just something we can do at an organisational level. Many of us in a wealthy country like Australia can find ways in our daily lives to advance a number of the SDGs – particularly with the existential threat of climate change on future generations.

From the individual choices we make at home, to the purpose we have at work, to the voices we have in our communities, to the realisation that we are part of a global community, we can all take individual responsibility for what might seem like distant or intangible goals, but in the long run, affect us all.