CO2 Neutral Bicycle Journey #1:
Journey to Green Horizons
2007
In 2007 I began a series of “Carbon Neutral Journeys” traversing several states in North Eastern America by bicycle. These journeys were not merely gestures, I was experiencing the effort involved in producing one’s own power. My intention was not to proselytize or make accusations, I was not promoting the bicycle as the sole mode of transportation, nor as a panacea to environmental ails. But I felt that if I could ask people to reconsider their options as responsible beings, the project was realized.
This project was conceived for the exhibition, “Green Horizons” at Bates College in Maine. It was inspired by a sentence from the exhibition flyer announcing the show’s intention to be “off the grid.” Intrigued by the possibility of traveling to Maine without producing carbon emissions, I researched various means of transport from New York City to Lewiston, ME and calculated how much CO2 would be produced en route were I to travel by plane, SUV, bicycling, walking, hybrid car, midsize car or bus.
Since, not surprisingly, walking and bicycling turned out to be the two least environmentally harmful, I chose to undertake the journey by bicycle. Upon arrival, I installed the bicycle and trailer (containing a tent, sleeping bag, emergency gear etc.), the video of the journey, and a chart drawn onto the wall revealing the amount of CO2 that would have been emitted by each mode of transport.
