I. Abstract:
Multiple reasons, including a shift in population, cheaper technology, and policies, have led to the creation of an auto dependent suburb. Over the past half decade, the avoidable usage of passenger automobiles has been a notorious contributor to the greenhouse gas effect and global warming. Although we now have capabilities to move into a non dependent world, we still fail to change our lifestyle. Three aspects of the suburb are necessary to prevent further global warming. The urban design of the suburb must be auspicious to non cars and conducive to walking and public transit. Also, more effective and readily available technologies need to provide a cheap, green and alternate solution. Lastly, we must present the current failures in a understandable way that easily conveys the current failures of our culture. I connected with one Alicia Bowman, a leader in the City of Newton Safe routes Task Force and she was more than happy to collaborate with me. She provided me with data that included 471 response from Newton North High School families. Of these points, only about 450 included the necessary information. Parents provided a response on how their children travel to school 5 times a week. These answers included walking, biking/scootering, taking the school bus, taking the MBTA bus, driving with family, driving themselves, driving with other students, and carpooling. I stratified the methods into three different groups: Non CO2 producing method which included walking, biking, and scootering, Alternative CO2 Method: riding the buses, and CO2 Method: driving a car. The survey also included an approximate starting location by asking for the nearest intersection for example Commonwealth Avenue / Temple Street. Including about 36 weeks of school, I calculated the year total CO2 production to be 721.733 CO2 kg/week * 36 Weeks = 25,982.388 = 26,000 kg CO2.
Multiple reasons, including a shift in population, cheaper technology, and policies, have led to the creation of an auto dependent suburb. Over the past half decade, the avoidable usage of passenger automobiles has been a notorious contributor to the greenhouse gas effect and global warming. Although we now have capabilities to move into a non dependent world, we still fail to change our lifestyle. Three aspects of the suburb are necessary to prevent further global warming. The urban design of the suburb must be auspicious to non cars and conducive to walking and public transit. Also, more effective and readily available technologies need to provide a cheap, green and alternate solution. Lastly, we must present the current failures in a understandable way that easily conveys the current failures of our culture. I connected with one Alicia Bowman, a leader in the City of Newton Safe routes Task Force and she was more than happy to collaborate with me. She provided me with data that included 471 response from Newton North High School families. Of these points, only about 450 included the necessary information. Parents provided a response on how their children travel to school 5 times a week. These answers included walking, biking/scootering, taking the school bus, taking the MBTA bus, driving with family, driving themselves, driving with other students, and carpooling. I stratified the methods into three different groups: Non CO2 producing method which included walking, biking, and scootering, Alternative CO2 Method: riding the buses, and CO2 Method: driving a car. The survey also included an approximate starting location by asking for the nearest intersection for example Commonwealth Avenue / Temple Street. Including about 36 weeks of school, I calculated the year total CO2 production to be 721.733 CO2 kg/week * 36 Weeks = 25,982.388 = 26,000 kg CO2.