We Conserve: Be the We

This column features the We Conserve program and its work on campus.

There are more than 750 million motor vehicles in the world today and the number is projected to double in the next 30 years.

About a third of these vehicles operate in the United States and travel more than 3 trillion miles a year to transport people and goods from one place to another; the same as driving to the sun and back 13,440 times.

For this to happen, about 28 percent of the total energy in the United States is consumed by the transportation sector. Personal vehicles consume 60 percent of this energy while commercial vehicles, pipelines and mass transit account for the rest.

To deal with this increasing demand for energy and to address the environmental impact of this consumption, major technological advancements, new public policies and serious changes in people’s habits and expectations are necessary.

Gasoline and diesel make up about 84 percent of all energy used in transportation. Currently, alternative sources of fuel, less harmful to the environment, are both limited in application and in availability.

In the United States, about 87 percent of all automobile trips occur with two or fewer occupants. The average for work-related trips is 1.1 occupants per vehicle. Matching vehicle size to our needs is an essential vehicle design priority. Carpooling anyone?

Miles driven is directly the result of distance between places and the frequency of trips to those places. Although factors such as city design, urban sprawl and availability of mass transit impact this issue and may not be as easy to change, people’s travel habits and the importance of planning daily trips should not be underestimated.

On average, food travels more than 2,000 miles by the time it is delivered to the consumer. In addition, a large amount of energy is used to produce the pesticide and fertilizer used for its growth, not to mention what it takes for its packaging and refrigeration. Buying local and organic food reduces the impact of this problem and can be healthier for us.

With advances in computers and telecommunication technologies, working from home and transferring information, rather than people, is currently an underused tool in reducing congestion and energy waste.

Most of these measures are realistic, easy and smart to implement. The We Conserve initiative is committed to working with the community to support progressive transportation policies of our city and the university, such as access to mass transit, availability of great bicycle paths replacing campus fleet vehicles with more fuel-efficient ones and promoting the health benefits of walking.