Siding with sustainability needs a change of heart

The University of Melbourne taught Tara Susanto about systemic injustice – but also how to follow her heart. After a sustainability wake-up call in fast-moving consumer goods, she co-founded a company reforesting Indonesia.

Though Tara Susanto has always cared about sustainability, it wasn’t always at the centre of her life.

“My sustainability wake-up call came during my time in fast-moving consumer goods, where I witnessed the staggering waste generated by packaging and plastics. It was brutal,” she says.

“I had to take a hard look at my values and decide which side of history I wanted to stand on – the side that works to care for our home and to preserve it for my future, my family, and my loved ones, or the side that turns a blind eye to what’s happening to our cities, our planet, and even our health.”

Many people care about sustainability, but don’t necessarily live by it, Tara thinks. She counted herself among them until the endless churn of cheap, plastic products became too much.

“Around that time, I started falling ill more often,” she says. “I had to drag myself out of bed to go to the office. I had no motivation, and I kept questioning my contribution and usefulness. It wasn’t good for anyone, really.”

I promised myself that whatever job I took on next – it had to be true. It had to be net positive for humankind. I couldn’t live with myself if it wasn’t.

Others might feel the same way, Tara says. But it takes bravery to make a change.

“I think a lot of people have these moments, but they’re easy to push aside because the systems are so normalised,” she says.

Turning off the predetermined path

Making a big career change was easier for Tara because she’d allowed herself to freely explore her passions during her time at the University of Melbourne.

Tara co-founded Bumiterra, a community-powered reforestation company in Indonesia. Photographer credit: Hans Jonathan.

“Before Melbourne, I thought life was about following a predetermined route. If there’s one takeaway from my time in Melbourne, it’s that it’s okay to be everything. It’s okay to explore, experiment, and let your experiences shape who you are,” she says.

While at the University, Tara embraced every opportunity she got. The Melbourne Curriculum allowed her to delve into topics like filmmaking, music and animal welfare.

“One of the most impactful classes I took was a core arts subject simply called Power. It really started to challenge my views on how the world we currently live in operates, showing us how power moves through institutions, language, race, class, and systems,” Tara says.

Tara also explored her interests outside her studies. She signed up for as many clubs as she could. But she says she truly found her people at UMSU International, the representative body for international students at the University.

“I found people who challenged me intellectually and emotionally but also shared the little things: celebrating a great event pulled off, making inside jokes, acknowledging a moment of burnout,” she says.

“They made me feel like I didn’t have to choose between being effective and being soft. That sense of belonging carried me through many of the risks I took later in life.”

After graduating, Tara returned to Indonesia. She explored roles in fast-moving consumer goods, e-commerce, health and beauty, and education.

“Each career experience felt right for me at the time, and I gave it my all. I owe so much of that freedom to explore – and the courage to embrace it – to my time in Melbourne and, of course, my parents for supporting me!”

Partnering with Indigenous landowners

Today, Tara is the co-Founder of Bumiterra, a community-powered reforestation company in Indonesia.

“We've launched zero-waste and no-plastic policies, incorporated plant-based meals at the office, reforested at least 45 hectares of degraded land in West Kalimantan, and worked with 21 different businesses to bring them closer to their net-zero goals,” says Tara.

“We're also aiming for our B-Corp certification to be done this year.”

Founding her own company meant Tara could stay true to her values.

“A lot of people advised me to be more flexible, to pick my battles, to meet the industry where it was. But I had a feeling things could be different,” she says.

I co-founded Bumiterra because I didn’t want to retrofit solutions into systems built on compromise. Especially in a world that often feels bleak and extractive, I needed to prove – to myself and maybe others – that there’s still room for fairness, clarity, and care.

Tara built Bumiterra on a simple model of transparent profit-sharing.

“We partner with Indigenous landowners to restore degraded lands through a subscription model. Unlike others who acquire land, we prioritise collaboration, ensuring power stays within the community.”

Uplifting living standards and protecting Indigenous landowners’ rights are core to Bumiterra’s mission.

“I think it’s one of the most overlooked parts of sustainability work today. People talk about Indigenous communities as stakeholders, but rarely as teachers,” Tara says.

There’s deep, time-tested knowledge in Indigenous ways of living that’s often overlooked, yet profoundly relevant. Maybe it’s worth the time to look at other time-tested solutions instead of ‘innovating’ our way out all the time. Maybe it’s okay to allow the past a place in the future.

Photographer credit: Irene Insan.

Sustainability requires patience

The journey to founding Bumiterra has been a tough one.

“The experience has been equal parts brutal and beautiful. In the early days, no one believed in us. We were dismissed, underestimated, and often alone,” Tara says.

“The hardest part is putting the ego aside and being brave enough to stand up to yourself, asking yourself, ‘Is this the right thing for everyone? Could I be wrong?’ Because at the end of the day, the real battle is always with the ego – and it shows up in different forms each time.”

Lately, Tara has been less focused on her next achievement.

“What I truly hope for is to see more kindness and understanding in this space. I hope for patience. Nature-based solutions take time, trees take time to grow, just as healing takes time, even though illness often feels instantaneous,” she says.

“Too often, we’re quick to criticise ourselves and others, debating the ‘best’ way to save the world. But what we really need now is a diversity of solutions, fresh perspectives from different industries, and, most importantly, a shared understanding that this might be humanity’s greatest challenge yet.”

We don’t lack the funds or resources to save the world, Tara believes. But we do need a change of heart.

“If someone is taking care of the earth, they should be protected. They should be supported. That’s the foundation. Everything else we build should start from there.”

Read the 2024 Sustainability Report to learn more about how University of Melbourne alumni are creating a sustainable future.

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