Tonight, as I zip up my battered turquoise suitcase in Lawrence, Kansas, moonlight dapples my “Why I Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” sticker – an old friend now embarking on a new adventure with me. Tomorrow, it will rumble across the Atlantic to Birmingham, UK, where I’ll swap prairie wind for canal breeze and begin a green journey.
This summer, my journey took me through the Mid-America Regional Council. There, I traded textbooks for town hall meetings and Python scripts for website accessibility tools, helping RecycleSpot.org become a more user-centered gateway to circular economy living. My work involved mapping routes for old electronics and connecting small actions to broader goals: less waste, cleaner air, and more inclusive communities.
Before MARC, climate action felt like a distant policy. Now, I saw it ripple outward from our city, one ‘aha’ website click, one feedback-inspired improvement. When UN leaders spoke of “sustainable cities” or “responsible production,” I realized those global ambitions quietly came to life in the data I analyzed and the team discussions where my ideas were valued. Even my simplest choices, cycling to meetings, refilling my old bottle at city water stations (thanks to the Refill App), echoed the spirit of SDGs 11 and 12.
After late nights reading about climate action, I’ve learned it’s about the legacy we leave to each place. So when it came time to plan my journey, I started as all explorers do: with a map and questions: how, along the rails and runways, could I lighten my footprint instead of deepening it?
I chose rails over clouds whenever possible. I scoured travel options and swapped a direct flight for a combination of train and coach itinerary via Skyscanner and RailEurope, reducing my emissions by up to 90% compared to flying alone (https://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm). Once in Birmingham, I’m living by the rule: “Choose pedal over petrol.” Nextbike UK (city bike sharing) will be my two-wheeled chariot, aided by Google Maps’ cycling mode and Citymapper for real-time eco-routes.
Packing was a game of eco-Tetris: one reusable bottle (with the Refill App for tapwater stations), a tiffin lunchbox, and a bar of solid shampoo that shuns plastic. My wardrobe? Quality, versatile, and mostly secondhand, each piece is a protest against fast fashion. I also offset my remaining carbon footprint through Gold Standard – my pledge for SDG 13, measured and meaningful.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that individual actions multiply only through sharing. At the University of Birmingham, I intend to co-create sustainability meetups, from meatless Monday kitchen sessions to local canal clean-ups. I’ve already started a blog (using Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees) to chart this journey, with all its wins and fails, hoping my honesty will inspire ideas for classmates to travel after me.
Every small act here connects with millions of others, weaving a shared hope: that the world we pass through is a little lighter, a little greener, because we cared.
