The OSU Carbon Reduction Grant Program, funded by OSU Facilities Planning and Management and administered by Carbon Commitment Committee (C3) and the Sustainability Office, is intended for practical, measurable projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions across OSU operations and activities. For fiscal year 2026 (FY26), nine awards were granted, ranging from $988 to $10,472, with approximately 45% of funding going to projects substantially led by OSU students!
Grant recipients provide progress updates and estimated impacts on OSU’s carbon emissions as the projects move forward. Read below for an update on one of the projects currently underway!
Project title: Cycle Away from Carbon
Project team: Student-led, in collaboration with OSU Transportation Services
Amount awarded: $7,840
Project summary:
- Boost sustainable transportation by promoting biking over driving.
- Reduce barriers by teaching people how to ride a bike.
- Reinforce biking as a long-term habit.
Project details: Students have been working on a non-credit class for first-time bike riders called Cycle Away from Carbon. This project lowers barriers for students transitioning from driving to biking by offering a spring quarter 2026 introductory biking course that combines hands-on instruction, campus resource education, and peer support. Participants attend multiple skill-building sessions led by a certified instructor and receive a free refurbished bike, helmet, and lock, with bikes sourced from OSU Surplus Property and repaired through the Adventure Leadership Institute to avoid the carbon emissions that come from producing new bikes. While enrolling a small cohort yields modest near-term emissions reductions, the program is designed to build lasting biking habits, strengthen biking culture at OSU, and generate long-term environmental benefits through continued bike use and social influence. Supporting active transportation – including cycling – was identified as a priority in the OSU’s Sustainable Transportation Strategy as well as the Path to Carbon Neutrality.
“The goal of Cycle Away From Carbon is to connect students to resources in order to promote biking over driving. Beyond that, our aim is to reinforce biking as a long-term sustainable habit,” said Sebastian Partida-Osuna. “I never learned how to ride a bike but noticed my only barrier to putting down my car keys was I simply didn’t have ways to start learning how [to bike].”
Project status: Registration is now open for two class sessions on May 30 and 31! First-time riders will learn about essential biking skills, and local biking resources. Register here today!
CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
One thought on “OSU Carbon Reduction Grant: Cycle Away from Carbon”
What stuck with me most is that the barrier here was not attitude but the much simpler point that someone “simply didn’t have ways to start learning.” That makes the combination of a certified instructor with a refurbished bike, helmet, and lock feel unusually well designed, because it removes several frictions at once instead of just telling people to choose the greener option. I’d be curious whether you plan any follow-up after a year, especially since the long-term effect will probably show up less in one quarter’s emissions than in whether participants keep riding and influence friends to try it too.