With all her flying, Kragh faces a dilemma that many Americans share. Should individuals shoulder the blame for going to see their families or taking vacations, and as a result increase global carbon emissions? The world has yet to answer that question, but the way Kragh sees it the airline industry has to accept responsibility as well.
“Well, am I going to stop doing that (flying), or are we going to ask the airline industries to step it up and ask them to do it differently?” Kragh said. “So I think that I also became more conscious of that this is an individual task, but leads to asking for change from the manufacturing side and the supply side, not just the consumer side.”
The effects of climate change have long been apparent to Kragh. Her husband’s family is from Bangalore, India and her in-laws have gotten sick because the city struggles with air pollution. She’s seen hurricanes and stronger storms creep up the Eastern seaboard and into CNY. As a skier, Kragh noticed that the conditions have worsened since she and her family moved to DeWitt in 1996. But the biggest change Kragh has seen is at Glacier National Park in Montana.
“It to me was visibly different and going from one visit to the next, and again you shouldn’t be able to see changes in glaciers in your lifetime,” Kragh said. “I’m glad I brought my girls because I don’t know if they’ll ever see these again.”
While working through the Carbon Challenge, Kragh has considered switching to electric cars. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it easier for her family to reduce their mileage because of social distancing and stay-at-home orders. In the future, she hopes that the government continues to invest in charging stations so that her family can take the same road trips they used to with new electric cars.
Kragh’s family also keeps its furnace in good condition but will look to replace it with a more efficient option once the furnace has run its course. Previously, she never knew what vampire electricity was and what effect it had on her footprint, but with the information from the Carbon Challenge, she was able to cut down on that unnecessary electricity usage. Even before the Carbon Challenge, Kragh had solar panels installed and switched to LED lights in her home.
With all the changes she’s made in her home and to her lifestyle, Kragh still emphasizes the importance of informing others on the impact of climate change. Whether it’s talking to her dad, informing people in the various organizations she’s a part of, or lobbying to local school districts to take some responsibility, Kragh understands that it will take collective action from individuals and organizations to fight climate change. In her experience, the most important part of the Carbon Challenge was learning new ways to reduce your footprint, and Kragh hopes that others take the challenge to learn something new too.
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