News
Low Carbon Christmas 2009
A project of the master students of Environment and Resource Management.
How much do we pollute our planet merely by traveling? According to students of the international Master Environment and Resource Management (ERM): too much. Their Low Carbon Christmas project is an initiative to create awareness about the fact that in order to contribute to a healthy environment, we have to change our lifestyle. In other words: less plane, more train.
The project is based on the idea of monitoring and lowering each participant’s carbon emissions during their travels home this Christmas, aiming to reduce ERM’s carbon footprint during this period. Based on personal performance and travel scenarios, each participant will contribute to the group’s carbon fund. This fund will be used for an offset mechanism, which has yet to be determined.
Haran Bar-on (Israel), member of the student group, states that one of the benefits from this project is the fact that ERM students come from all over the world, and therefore have to account for variable amounts of carbon emissions. “The different discussions and decisions we had to take along the way, gave us an interesting insight into some of the policy making dilemmas that are being dealt with in the 'real world'.”
According to Haran, creating awareness and making choices are both key factors in solving problems in our environment. “Environmental concerns need to receive more weight than they do today. When faced with such issues, it’s important that we, consumers act on it. I think everyone should be aware of the problems in our environment, and how we can do something about it individually. Traveling by plane emits enormous amounts of carbon, yet not enough people seem to be fully aware of this. As ERM students, we have the desire to positively change our lifestyles.”
With Christmas coming up, the realization of the project is drawing closer. “Of course, it’s not realistic to expect for example, an American participant taking a boat trip to the States. We want everyone to be able to enjoy Christmas at home. With the reasonable time and money constraints we do have, it will be interesting to see the results of the ideal scenario from each participant.”
Comparing to the enormous impact of Copenhagen, the project might seem relatively minor, but the message is clear and just as important: low-carbon traveling methods exist and it is up to us, the consumers, to act upon it.
