Brace yourselves: the elevator at the condo I live in recently broke down. Horror of horrors! While this wasn’t much of an issue for me- the stairs and I have quite a friendly relationship- I know that there are countless people who choose elevators and escalators over the stairs every day when their feet are perfectly capable of carrying them up a couple flights of stairs.
Granted, of course, I do live on the sixth floor. And I must assume that if I lived on, say, the fifteenth floor, I’d be much less enthusiastic about walking up and down those stairs several times a day. Be that as it may, I’m always a little curious when I get on the elevator with someone else and they get off on the second or third floor. I can understand if you are carrying something that it would be awkward to walk a flight or two of stairs, but if your arms are empty, is it really necessary to use up an elevators energy when you could walk up the stairs instead? Most of the time, the elevator is slow and takes so long to get to the ground level that you could easily have walked up the stairs and arrived at your door earlier or at the same time that you would have gotten there had you used the elevator.
The University of Winnipeg is famous for the three escalators that grace Centennial Hall. They are narrow, fast paced escalators; on any given day at the university, you will find students and faculty alike packed onto those escalators. But even though they are so fast, it’s not very difficult to walk up the stairs at the same speed as the people travelling via escalator. Just three flights of stairs. And considering that the University of Winnipeg is equally well-known for the fact that the vast majority of its students have a reputation for being Left-wing and “urban hippies”, that’s slightly hypocritical. These are such small, simple changes that we can make; minor adjustments in our everyday lifestyle. So why is it so hard for us?
Escalators and elevators use more energy with the more people that they carry. Yes, they are continually running, but that doesn’t mean that they expend the same amount of energy all the time. With the extra weight of people stepping onto them, that uses up more precious energy. It really seems like an incredible waste, when we could be using that energy ourselves. I understand the reason behind elevators for reaching the highest floors in buildings, and the necessity for people who have difficulties walking or are carrying things, but what about the rest of society? The people who live on the first 5 floors (might as well be generous) or so? Surely we are capable of moving our bodies up a few stairs?
With all of this technology doing things for us, it’s no wonder that society as a whole is having more and more health problems. We don’t move like we used to: cars, buses, taxis, elevators, and escalators are at our dispense. In between the daily travelling, most of us come to a desk to sit down comfortably for several hours. At the end of the day, our machinery does the work of carrying us home, and then we plop down on the couch, exhausted after a long day. Here’s an idea: if you can reasonably wake up a little earlier to walk or bike to work, or if you can use stairs instead of the elevator, or if you can walk ten minutes to the bus stop beyond the one that is closest to you, maybe you’ll find that the little bit of exercise actually gives you energy rather than tires you out. You won’t feel quite so exhausted by the end of the day, and your alertness will likely make for a more cheerful attitude (and a more productive workday).
That’s my challenge to you. Try it, just for a few days. See if it makes a difference to you. And even if you don’t find that it adds to your energy reserve (which would frankly surprise me), I’m sure you’ll find that it will add to the environments energy reserve by not expending it on yourself. Canada has been ranked as one of the top countries for contributing to negative climate changes (The Winnipeg Free Press, 07/12/07. You can read the whole article here), even though we encourage other countries to make green changes. Instead of taking that information and feeling embarrassed or shameful of it, we should view it as an opportunity to lower that ranking and set a good example for the global community.
The environment can appreciate it if we all take a couple of steps rather than pushing a button. It’s the difference between shallow ecology and deep ecology. After all, this is the season for giving: why not give back to the environment?
Sagan Morrow is a student attending her second year at the University of Winnipeg. She is studying English and Classics and her main interests lie in writing and travelling. She is currently writing a novel. Read other posts by Sagan Morrow.
