August 10, 2020

UOW students join the fight for our planet

Gwynneville housemates featured in new ABC series focused on threat of climate change

When Timothy Wall saw an advertisement online for the ABC’s new series Fight For Planet A: The Climate Challenge, he thought it would be a good opportunity to encourage his housemates to be more conscious of their environmental impact. 

The program, hosted by The Chaser’s Craig Reucassal, was looking for a university household to take part in a challenge to reduce their emissions.

Along with his four housemates, Tim, who is studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Human Geography, at the University of Wollongong, put his hand up and within weeks, there was a camera crew at their Gwynneville home, following their sustainability journey. 

“They came in and challenged us to reduce our carbon emissions in three key areas: transport, food, and energy,” Tim said.

“They told us some areas to work on and gave us some tips. We had eight weeks to reduce our emissions.

“My degree is much more environmentally minded so I am aware of that, but it was a challenge getting my roommates on board.”

All five of the housemates are students at UOW. Alongside Tim, there is Ketan Panat and Sahil Kapoor, who are both studying medicine, James Murray, studying finance, and Wangchuk Tshoko, who is a civil engineering student.

“It was tough at the start but it was very motivating, having Craig and the TV crew behind us, pushing us along.”

Tim said he was heartened by the response among his fellow university students to the growing urgency of climate change.

“Climate change is part of every subject I study in my degree,” he said.

“But I think there’s also a growing awareness of it on campus too. There’s a lot of activism and groups getting involved in reducing our impact for climate change. Young people are really knowledgeable in this area.”

Hosted by comedian Craig Reucassal, The Fight For Planet A: The Climate Challenge explores how we can all reduce our individual and collective carbon emissions.

It follows on from the successful War on Waste, a series on the ABC, which examined waste and our reliance on items such as single-use plastics.

The Fight For Planet A: The Climate Challenge premieres Tuesday 11 August on ABC.