Week 9 Reflection – Seeing Sustainability on the Ground

 



This week was different. Instead of just theory, we went out and looked at our own campus to see how sustainability actually shows up in daily life. Honestly, I was curious going in. It is easy to sit in lectures and talk about big ideas, but seeing whether those ideas exist around us is something else entirely.

Some things surprised me. The solar panels, the food waste composting, the tree-planting initiatives. They were there. Real and functioning. Not perfect, but definitely more than just surface-level. It made me realise that IIUM is not just talking about being a sustainable campus. It is actually trying to become one, even if most of us do not notice it day to day.

But then there are also the gaps. Recycling stations that look abandoned, students still wasting water, plastic everywhere during peak hours. It reminded me that infrastructure is only one side of the story. The other side is habits. And habits are harder to change.

I also thought about how we, as students, are always called "agents of change." That phrase sounds heavy, like we are meant to go out and transform the world. But sometimes being an agent of change is as simple as making better choices quietly and consistently. Picking up trash, saying no to single-use plastics, turning off a light when you leave a room. Small things, but they add up if everyone takes it seriously.

The fieldwork made me see the university differently. Not just as a place where I study but as a shared space with potential. And that potential depends on us too. Not just the staff or the admin or some office somewhere, but on how we live as students every day.

It reminded me that sustainability is not a destination. It is a mindset. And it starts with noticing.