If Megan and I were carbon dioxide emissions, our combined weight would equal one flight from Chicago O'Hare ORD airport to Montreal International Dorval YUL. Wait a second, okay, we don't even weigh that much. The point is, we're each saving 317 lbs of carbon emissions by biking to Canada. Apparently, the flight would generate 855.9 lbs of all total global warming emissions, due to the fact that emissions have a larger impact at higher altitudes. http://www.cheap-parking.net/flight-carbon-emissions.php
What if we TRIED to equal the emissions of a one-way flight during our bike trip? Do you think we can do it?
Food is responsible for 1/3 of greenhouse gases, so maybe we can eat our way to a dirty planet. Unfortunately, Megan is vegan-positive and I only eat up to fish on the food chain, plus we like to eat locally grown organic in-season foods with minimal packaging. I went on www.eatlowcarbon.org and figured out that I only eat 133 lbs of carbon emissions in a month. Suzanne says that I can only count 66 lbs as extra calories that I would not have eaten if I weren't biking. Dang!
Even though we are camping most nights, we are likely to have one or two hotel stays (hopefully free with hilton honors points!!). I entered 2 nights in one room each night into the Double Tree calculator: http://www.doubletreeportlandgreen.com/calc-guests.htm. Only .02 tons (40 lbs) of CO2.
Since we bought our bikes used, we can't count the carbon emissions for them. That belongs to the first owner, so it wouldn't be fair to take credit for them. Maybe if I make a list of all the brand new items I buy for the trip it would make up for my carbon deficit.
new things bought:
Chain
Bottom bracket
handlebar tape
new battery for my camera
new battery charger for my camera
(attempt to recycle old charger and battery TBA)
new things to buy:
biking shorts, one pair
gloves that glo in the dark, one pair
water bottle holder
helmet
women's style handlebars so my shoulders and neck don't hurt!
case of fruit leathers!
case of emergen-c's!
I just don't think we can reach that level. Oh well, when we're done, we'll just have to throw our bikes in the ocean to make up for all of that pollution we saved. (Or recycle it into gifts: http://www.resourcerevival.com!)
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people we want to come to our bon voyage party:
- Chicago Bike Blog
- Toronto to Montreal Route
- Adventure Cycling: maps, guidelines, forums, etc
- Calculate your flight emissions
- Calculate your hotel emissions
- Calculate your food emissions
- 2008 Commuter Challenge
- 2008 Bike the Drive
- Resource Revival
- Chicago Bicycle Federation
- Cycling Sisters Chicago
- Boston Bikes Not Bombs
- Chicago Books to Women in Prison
- ReGeneration 2008: 4th World Youth Congress
2 comments:
I found some info on clothes. According to the Jan. 25, 2007 NY Times, "How Green is Your T-shirt," cotton uses a total of 31 kilowatts of energy through its lifecycle (from raw material to the landfill). Meanwhile, a polyester shirt only uses a total of 15 kilowatts. By this comparison, it looks like polyester is better. But, the study assumes that a consumer will wash a cotton shirt in a higher temperature water, dry it in a dryer and iron it (yeah, right) but dry the polyester tee out in the sunshine (sure). If you take out their assumptions, a cotton t-shirt uses 13 kw in raw material, manufacturing and transportation. A polyester t-shirt takes 15. Cotton wins!
PS 1kw = powering a 40-watt lightbulb for a full day
PPS We are bringing environment-destroying polyester on the trip because we actually do have to dry it outside!
sounds like it'll be a terrific adventure for you both. since you mentioned emergen-c -- (and I agree it's critical to bring with you!) - do you know about "Electro Mix" - from the same company. Been using it for years ( it used to be packaged as Miracle Water, and now it's in packets like emerg-c -- much more convenient to carry.) It's great for long, hot rides - always feels like your electrolytes/hydration/equilibrium are in good shape.
Just a suggestion, hopefully a contribution to the enjoyment and success of your trip. Reading about your plans makes me want to be more dedicated to my riding. Thanks!
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