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Oakland University’s DO YOUR SHARE Campaign Aims to Reduce Carbon

Footprint

DO YOUR SHARE is a campaign from Oakland University that urges consumers to

reduce their carbon footprint. The first phase of the campaign launch will focus on
transportation by encouraging more efficient driving habits, specifically more carpooling
and less idling. Because Oakland University is a commuter school, CO2 emissions are
a concern. 

Currently, the average U.S. per capita carbon footprint is 18.3 tons. According to The
Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, in order to hold the global temperature rise to
2˚C or less, everyone on earth will need to average an annual carbon footprint of 1.87
tons by 2050. 

In an effort to help reduce the carbon footprints that we’ve stomped all over the earth,
Ima Smartone, a computer science student, created a carpooling app called 3.
Hundreds of students have started using this resource and it has gotten a lot of positive
feedback. 

 “I feel like I’m really doing my part when carpooling with my fellow nursing classmates,”
said Tania Molnar, a nursing student at Oakland. “Not to mention I’m not as stressed
about parking.” 

There are other benefits to the carpooling app. “It’s a lot cheaper to carpool to school,”
said Nathan Oprinca, an engineering student. “I don’t have to worry about all the gas I
waste driving down to Oakland. Obviously, the less gas there is, the better it is for the
environment.” 

The new carpooling app is a domino effect of good things – it reduces campus traffic,
therefore reducing the stress to park, is lighter on the wallets, all while reducing the
carbon footprint within the environment. 

Some Oakland University students also use their car as a second home – they eat,
sleep, and watch TV with the car running between classes. This is called idling and it is
extremely toxic to the environment. Every day, twelve million gallons of fuel are wasted
because of idling. 

The Oakland University Sustainability Center is taking the steps necessary to adopt
more efficient driving habits, like carpooling and idling-reduction.

About Oakland University Sustainability Center

Oakland University’s Sustainability Center is based in Rochester, Michigan and was
founded in 2016. The Sustainability Center works to bring about the necessary
awareness that provokes change towards living environmentally greener lives. The
chair of the board of directors, Dr. Maria Contreras, is an expert in carbon emissions
and leads the rest of her colleagues towards this global revolution.