Climate and Commuting Infographic

Climate and Commuting Infographic

For my project, I decided to make an infographic to share some of the benefits of working from home with my coworkers and some of the business owners that I know. I believe that having a comprehensive conversation with a few people whom I could readily influence was more effective than if I had sent my infographic to a greater number of people whom I had never met.

One of the major comments that I have noted on social media a of late is that it is difficult to frame climate change as an important issue right now. As a global catastrophe rages that has changed the lives of billions of people, it is becoming more difficult to think about the other global catastrophe we are facing. 
As we have discovered repeatedly in "What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming," people don't like to think about climate change. 
What's amazing about this moment in time, is that many of the "costs" that climate action is often framed around have already been absorbed by society. Our GDP has ground to a halt in some sectors, but not in others, which shows that some industries can proceed from home in a climate friendly manner with our seriously disrupting their corner of the economy. 
By linking the solution to promoting human health, with the solution to promoting the health of the planet, I hoped to make the idea of making climate conscious decisions less daunting.

My hopes were for the infographic to reflect the realities of commuting, which from the outside seem so innocuous; And to reframe the countrywide lockdown as a catalyst for change.

One of the few silver linings of the pandemic has been that far fewer people are commuting than before, and cities across the world are seeing the return of wildlife, cleaner air and the reduction in carbon emissions as the result. 

I posted the project on Facebook, but I'm not part of a large Facebook community, so the greatest impact my project had was on those who I shared it with directly. I am fortunate enough to work from home, and my boss was happy that his policies promote low carbon lifestyles. 
He noted that:
“Economic considerations are our major concern, however, being a company that is concerned with health we are naturally concerned about climate change. I’m pleased to hear that our policies that benefit our employees are also benefiting the planet. I am also pleased to tell you that after all this I am definitely going to be downsizing the San Francisco office.”

In conceiving this project, I was particularly inspired by the Vox podcast "How to Solve Climate Change and Make Life More Awesome" with Ezra Klein and Saul Griffith. In the podcast Griffith cites four factors as being the most important when it comes to measuring a person’s carbon output, how far a person drives every day, what car a person drives, how they heat and insulate their house, and what they eat. All four are heavily influenced by whether or not a person works at home or in an office building.
People who work at home don’t have to travel far to work, so it doesn’t matter what kind of car they drive, they have a greater opportunity to cook at home, which often involves less food waste and less packaging, and they are not heating or cooling an empty house while they are at work. 

(www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/12/16/21024323/ezra-klein-show-saul-griffith-solve-climate-change)

Individuals advocating for the choice to work at home will go far to reduce carbon emissions.  I believe that this is one of the actions that would make an incredible difference. Empowering individuals with the figures they need to advocate for this choice takes a lot of the guesswork and helplessness out of the fight to reduce individual carbon emissions.

Below is the Bureau of Transportation Statistics travel data so you can look up how long the average commute is where you live! 
Along with a calculator provided by the Environmental Protective Agency that lets you compare gallons of gasoline, to kilowatt hours, and many other units of measurement. 

www.bts.gov/statistical-products/surveys/national-household-travel-survey-daily-travel-quick-facts

www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator



References

Bureau of Transportation Statistics. General. National Household Travel Survey Daily Travel Quick Facts | Bureau of Transportation Statistics. https://www.bts.gov/statistical-products/surveys/national-household-travel-survey-daily-travel-quick-facts.

Environmental Protection Agency. (2018, October 15). Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator.

Klein, E., & Griffith, S. (2019, December 16). How to solve climate change and make life more awesome. Vox. https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/12/16/21024323/ezra-klein-show-saul-griffith-solve-climate-change.

Stoknes, P. E. (2015). What we think about when we try not to think about global warming: toward a new psychology of climate action. Chelsea Green Publishing.