Name

Mehmet Kayaalp

Location

Istanbul, Turkey

What was your ‘eureka’ moment for getting into sustainability?

I always wanted to do a project that makes people's lives easier or protects nature, so sustainability was always part of my life. Also since it is an important part of my university's lectures and I get some lessons especially about sustainability, I could have a chance to analyze sustainable projects closely. However, the time to make the move was the moment that I saw the competition of Yesilist. It was a competition that wanted university students to make a more sustainable campus. When I saw that, I though it was a great chance to do something because I have already thought about how to solve some problems in the university. As a result, I attended the competition with my friends and solved the transportation problem in the university.

What have you been doing on sustainability since?

I am generally interested in sustainable transportation. Therefore, I tackle transportation problems in the university because that was the most urgent problem to solve and students were displeased about it so I try to promote carpooling and using public transportation. Surprisingly, contrary to my expectation, carpooling apps hit the big time in the university and were in local news. My university administration, students' union, students' organizations, clubs and all students also supported the carpooling and using public transportation in the university. Most of them supported carpooling to make applications or websites.

What’s your vision for reaching a sustainable future?

Some countries and companies have already realized the importance of sustainability and so they have started to shape the future. I think in the future, sustainability will be more crucial than ever before. For example, companies will build sustainable products or countries will build sustainable futures because after educating people, people will want them to act like that. However, the biggest obstacle we have to overcome is to educate people because unfortunately, lack of consciousness and overconsumption are in a great part of our lives now. With respect to that, in order to meet the future generations' needs, population is another obstacle to handle. However, I think, instead of controlling the population, the best way to solve this obstacle is again to educate people.

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