As August begins, here is an example of our clinic’s commitment to reaching Net Zero.
Climate change adversely affects health and fertility across the globe, with the World Health Organization estimating the direct damage to health costing between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030. Since greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are major contributors, we need to reduce these, at a national level and at an individual level.
Every July, our team attends the annual meeting of the ESHRE, at a city in Europe. This year, the meeting was held in Amsterdam. We know that different modes of travel create varying levels GHGs. So I decided cycling might be the most environmentally friendly way to travel. And in summertime too. What could possibly go wrong?
Ups and Downs
I trained with long cycle rides throughout Leicestershire at the weekends in April and May. With a few punctures and gear problems, I realized that I need to learn the bicycle mechanics to repair them. As an embryologist, who has had to troubleshoot items of lab equipment “out of hours”, the need to fix things should have been obvious! So, I became familiar with repairing punctures, fixing the gears, the brakes, etc.
Then there is the British summer time. Sunshine throughout June changed to heavy rain in July. Skin is waterproof, but sadly my Smartwatch was not (contrary to what manufacturer claims!). After torrential rain on day 1, that evening I discovered that I no longer had a functioning watch (and associated GPS).
And then there are the rolling hills of the English countryside. So picturesque! However, after a few hours of rolling hills, the beauty of the uphills becomes less enticing!
Aside from these minor hickups, the cycle was a great challenge. I met some super people, fulfilled my routes each day, and particularly enjoyed cycling through the Netherlands, with its flat cycle routes.
CO2 Emissions From Cycling
I worked out GHG emissions associated with cycling via a green app. This provided a simple metric which converts GHGs to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, called “CO2 equivalent” or CO2e.
For one way (Leicester to Amsterdam), my total cycle distance was 448km (29.1kg CO2e). My bike and I also took a ferry from the UK to Netherlands, which was 204km (28kg CO2e). Total CO2e = 57.1kg CO2e.
Alternative transport would have meant a car drive to Leicester train station (10kg CO2e), a 45km train ride to Birmingham (BHX) airport (1kg CO2e), a 443km flight from BHX to Amsterdam (AMS) (111kg CO2e) and 20km bus ride from AMS to the city (3kg CO2e).
Total CO2e = 125kg CO2e.
By cycling, I saved 67.9kg CO2e. If I hadn’t taken the ferry, this saving would have been significantly more (but the UK is separated from mainland Europe, so crossing the sea was inevitable).
Was it worth it?
Without a doubt, I would endorse cycling as a green way to travel to professional conferences. With simple calculations of CO2e, there are clear savings compared to other modes of transportation.
There are also some top tips I need to share for future green cycles:
1) Do it with colleagues
I pitched my idea to colleagues from the British Fertility Society and found two kindred souls who wanted to join. Others told me to “get on my bike”. Alas, due to unforeseen circumstances, my two colleagues had to withdraw, leaving me the daunting challenge of a solo cycle ride. It would be more fun to share the adventure.
2) Have support
I was lucky in that I had no mishaps. However, there are quite a few risks that a support vehicle would mitigate.
3) Raise money for a charity
I chose to raise funds for a UK charity the Klinefelters Syndrome Association. This helped to motivate me to complete the cycle and created a win-win situation. At the time of writing, the cycle has raised £1249 for the charity.
If you’d like to support the fundraising, please see the JustGiving page. https://www.justgiving.com/page/bfs2eshre
I hope you enjoyed this blog and if you have any green ideas about how we can all do our bit to head towards a greener planet, please share in the comments below or let the X&Y Fertility team know. Thanks for reading!
#CharityCycle #NetZero #Fertility #Leicester #Leicestershire #BritishFertilitySociety #KlinefeltersSyndromeAssociation #sustainability #carbonliteracy #bfs2eshre #xy4xxy
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