My carbon diet challenge

Today is Earth Day.

What a day for a “green devil” column.

I figured with all the earthy stuff going on today and this week (i.e. Duke’s celebration and concert on the Plaza today and Durham’s Earth Day Festival Saturday), I had to kick it up a notch for this column.

Now, I’m not into diets as a general rule. But sometimes a catalyst is required for change.

Last month, I filled out the carbon calculator on the Duke Sustainability website as part of the monthly Green Devil Challenge (no relation to this column). Based on the short survey of generic questions, it told me I would need 55 seedlings growing for 10 years to offset my contribution to the Duke footprint. In three areas of impact—energy, diet and behavior—my impact was low, but my transportation impact was average. There was room for improvement.

In 1970, Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wisc., saw room for improvement too, and founded Earth Day as a “teach-in” on the environment. Modeled after similar events to protest the war in Vietnam, the first Earth Day was a grassroots success with events held in communities across the country. The intervening years have seen the founding of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

These are vast improvements, but in no way are the environmental problems of the world solved, and this year, President Barack Obama once again called on individuals and their communities to make the 40th anniversary of Earth Day a meaningful and educational success.

Which brings us back to my C.D.C.

During the past few weeks, in my attempt to cut my transportation footprint, I have experimented with such alternatives as riding my bike to school, telecommuting and signing up to join a carpool. I have yet to tackle the bus system.

It’s easy for me to state that every option has its drawbacks, as well as its advantages. For instance, when I entered myself in the Duke GreenRide database, a ride-sharing service offered through Parking and Transportation Services, I stopped short of actually contacting my matches by e-mail. I’m just not ready to give up the sense of freedom my current schedule allows.

Telecommuting, though, is pretty convenient. The shortest commute ever takes just seconds and starts when I go downstairs to my home office where my laptop is settled under a nice little window. With another cup of coffee within arm’s reach, it’s a hard commute to resist. But, while it means I might only be distracted by the mailman, it also means I don’t see my office mates, or have casual interactions on the quad walking to get lunch. A good option, but not one to be overused.

Finally, bike commuting. Well, I picked the wrong week to start bike commuting. Remember the storm of pollen the trees unleashed last week? The green dust that clung to every surface and was kicked up into clouds at the slightest hint of a breeze? That hit hard the first day I set out on my bike, and I was suffering before I even got off my street.

Now, biking during commuting hours can be a death-defying experience around here depending on where you’re coming from. And, based on my conversations with several committed bike commuters, the infrastructure on and adjacent to campus for traveling by and housing bikes is lacking, to say the least. Nevertheless, this mode of transportation is underutilized in the bike-able city of Durham, and a great form of exercise. Perhaps with better bike lanes and maps, and covered storage for commuter bikes, we could see this alternative really take off outside the student-only Duke Bikes program.

Not to wrongly associate the reference, but I’ll quote Queen in suggesting to all Dukies that you “get on your bikes and ride!”

I already said I’m not into diets. I’m especially not into fad diets, and since it’s only been two weeks, I guess that means I can’t quit my C.D.C. just yet. But I have already learned a lot, so as far as Earth Day goes, I believe I’ve met my challenge. Now I’ll have to put it to you, dear reader, to find your own teachable moment. This is not your parent’s Earth Day after all, it’s yours.

Thanks for reading this semester, and for those interested, I will continue posting about my C.D.C. and other notes about eco-sustainability that haven’t fit into my columns on my blog at www.dukegreendevil.blogspot.com.

Liz Bloomhardt is a third-year Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering. This is her final column of the semester.