317 lbs

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!)