One of the biggest advantages of being a freshman that we probably took for granted at the time is the proximity to some of the most frequented buildings on campus. Last year, the furthest walk was at most a quarter mile, but things have drastically changed this year with living in the Greenbelt Housing. Now, it’s a minimum quarter mile walk to make it to the dining hall or closest class buildings and other classes being over a half mile away and the PAC being even further at almost three quarters of a mile. I know these distances still are not that far but the time it takes to walk up to triples thus becoming much more appealing to drive from place to place.
A map of the Furman campus with paths from different housing illustrating the different lengths.
As we all know, this is definitely not a good thing for the environment, especially when you are just trying to save yourself a couple minutes out of convenience. To be more specific about the impacts cars have even in such a short drive, they “emit about 400 grams of CO2 per mile” and this doesn’t account for other greenhouse gasses emitted or those emitted in the production of the car and gasoline it uses (EPA). This means that every time someone drives from the cabin just to the chapel parking lot and back their car emits 600 grams of CO2, which goes directly into the atmosphere to further the effects of global warming. This number does not seem like a lot when all of human emissions have increased to over 36 billion tons per year, but it does not account for the many times it happens in a year or how easily avoidable it is. CO2 contributes to global warming by “absorbing heat radiating from the Earth’s surface and re-release it in all directions—including back toward Earth’s surface” as all greenhouse gasses do (Lindsey). The focus of greenhouse gasses is on CO2 because of its prevalence in the atmosphere and drastically higher impact on global warming with it being “responsible for about two-thirds of the total heating influence of all human-produced greenhouse gasses” (Lindsey).
Graph from Climate.gov illustrating the direct correlation between the increased emissions and CO2 in the atmosphere.
Bringing this back specifically to the Cabin, there is no need for us to drive simply across campus to save ourselves the slightest convenience and time, especially with the emissions coming from such a short drive. The emissions seem minimal right now but over time it all adds up, and as residents of the Greenbelt, we should be more concerned with any way we can reduce our emissions because of their effect on the environment. All of us are fully capable of walking or biking over to the main parts of campus or the PAC, so those options should take precedence over a drive. Also, this would not only decrease our emissions as a community and school, but walks and other forms of physical exertion have been linked to increase in mental health.
As college students, we are all stressed by nature, so why not add an extra walk to our day since it takes a load off our shoulders. The American Psychological Association has found up to a “25% lowered risk of depression among adults who got the recommended amount of physical activity per week” (Pearce). These extra walks that we avoid by driving across campus would easily get us to that recommended amount of activity thus improving our mental health and giving us a better outlook on the rest of our day. Based on this and the environmental impacts of driving, there is no good reason for us to be driving across campus despite the increase of distance this year and inconvenience.
Campus Map.
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DeAngelis, Tori. “Want to boost your mental health? Take a walk.” APA, 1 November 2022, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/11/defeating-depression-naturally. Accessed 19 November 2024.
“Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle.” EPA, 23 August 2024, https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle#driving. Accessed 18 November 2024.
Lindsey, Rebecca. “Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.” Climate.gov, 9 April 2024, https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide#:~:text=Without%20carbon%20dioxide%2C%20Earth’s%20natural,causing%20global%20temperature%20to%20rise.. Accessed 18 November 2024.