My focus for the duration of Earth Month will be Energy and Transportation. My major, Civil Engineering, is deeply tied to efficient transportation, traffic management, and energy conservation. When a civil engineer looks at a project, his or her main concerns are about how quickly and efficiently the project can be completed, as well as the design life of the infrastructure to be built or replaced. A career as a civil engineer requires a deep understanding of the energy and transportation needs of a modern society.
There are many ways for a person or group to decrease their impact on the environment in the areas of Energy and Transportation. For example, people can avoid using their own vehicles by taking city bus or mass transit. People without cars of their own could, instead of calling an Uber, purchase a subscription to Car To Go, allowing for transportation in more efficient vehicles. Another alternative to this is to simply give up driving altogether, and opt for a bike or more efficient motorcycle. For long-distance trips, the Megabus or Greyhound are viable options for commuting. Those people whose lifestyle, job, and location require a car could try to leave earlier or later for work, to avoid sitting in rush hour or freeway traffic. People who are in the market for cars could consider more efficient hybrid or full electric models. Likewise, manual transmission-equipped vehicles tend to be more fuel efficient. During the winter time, people who must drive in the cold could, instead of cranking up the heat, could keep a blanket in their cab for warmth. Also, these people could completely brush the snow off of their vehicles, decreasing their drag profile, and increasing efficiency.
In the way of energy, there are also a multitude of ways for a person to decrease their footprint. A person can do small things such as turn off room lights when they exit, open their window blinds and navigate by natural light, take cooler and shorter showers, use only reusable water bottles and dishes, switch to using cold water in their washer loads, make sure each laundry load is a full load, replace older light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones, and unplug electronics when not in use.
Around campus and Columbus, resources such as the Car-To-Go service, Co-Go or Zagster bike rental, the CABS and COTA bus services, the ARC, and any bike shop, such as Paradise Garage can help a person get off to a strong start in reducing their environmental impact through transportation and energy. These resources are all easily accessible and provide everything from advice in the area of transportation to actual transportation.
Online resources are also numerous. Aceee.org seeks to provide people with the knowledge they need to act on environmentally sustainable policies. The Ohio Department of Transportation website (www.dot.state.oh.us) also contains many reports and articles about new, efficient building projects going on in the state of Ohio. ucsusa.org is the website for the Union of Concerned Scientists, and offers a multitude of tips and recommendations for legislative and personal actions for people to undertake to increase their own efficiency. Finally, for the commuter crowd in Columbus, the Channel 10 News site (www.10tv.com) can be an indispensable resource for monitoring traffic on the highways around Columbus, allowing people to be on the roads for potentially shorter lengths of time. These sites all offer different views on how people can decrease their environmental impact with everyday acts.