In 2020, Ng founded the sustainability podcast SustainaPod, for young people to engage in dialogue with sustainability practitioners. She is also behind ConsciousEats, a startup that connects climate-conscious consumers to sustainable eateries in London. She is currently the Hong Kong youth leader for the global Act4Food Act4Change initiative, which campaigns for food system transformation
Describe what you do in one sentence.
I lead and support youth-led sustainability initiatives while working as a sustainability consultant.
How did you begin your sustainability journey?
I spent a lot of my childhood and teenage years in and around nature, and particularly enjoyed hiking and windsurfing. It instilled a love for and curiosity about the natural world in me, but I also saw first-hand the effects of pollution on the natural environment. I studied geography at the University of Cambridge, because I wanted to understand both human society and planetary systems in relation to our current environmental challenges. I then chose to pursue a more solution-oriented master’s degree at Imperial College London in environmental technology, because I wanted to delve deeper into environmental resource management.
What was it about food sustainability that piqued your interest?
Food production and consumption are at the core of not just human relationships with the environment, but also in our cultures, economies, histories and, most importantly, our personal well-being. As a volunteer, I have visited impoverished villages in Guangxi every year for a decade, supporting the refurbishment of local primary schools. Each time, the villagers would welcome us into their homes, and we would share a meal. Through repeated visits over the course of a decade, I came to understand how climate change was affecting agricultural production and food security, and also how these changes were directly affecting the lives of students my age, who had to help their families on the farm after school. My memories of these villages remind me of why I am continuing my efforts in the food sustainability field.
How does your work make a difference?
I co-founded SustainaPod in summer 2020 with a childhood friend, Paco Wu, as a result of my own journey figuring out the next steps for starting a career in sustainability. Through SustainaPod, I am working to foster critical and insightful conversations that raise awareness about the spectrum of sustainability-linked issues, share innovative solutions and inspire young people to act. Through ConsciousEats, I am working to educate and empower consumers in London to adopt dietary choices that reduce their environmental footprint. Through my youth advocacy work, I am raising the profile of youth perspectives at international conferences and campaigns in the food sustainability and ocean health realm. I am currently representing Hong Kong in a group of 30 people from around the world leading the Act4Food Act4Change campaign, which is mobilising young people to take action towards more sustainable food systems.
What can you tell us about the FoodiE app you launched at Cambridge University?
FoodIE was designed as an online interactive platform educating students about how to buy food more sustainably, and also enable students to share their best practices for preparing low-carbon meals. Though FoodIE was never fully developed and launched, I learnt a lot from the challenges faced along the way.
During the pandemic, you launched an online educational campaign and fundraiser called Heart-to-Heart HK. Can you tell us about this?
It was challenging. During the pandemic, there were also many other causes that required financial support, so trying to engage people about food poverty was tough. I sought to bring together social innovators, youth, and the private and public sectors in constructive dialogue about food poverty alleviation. Two weeks into the campaign, I was worried we were not going to hit our fundraising target. My team and I worked hard to diversify our engagement strategies and partnerships and we ended up surpassing the initial target. I really learned the importance of never giving up as well as creativity when faced with such obstacles. We were ultimately able to raise HK$44,000 to provide over 300 food care packages to families in need.