Ophelia Tong, 4th-year student at UBC (Geography with a GRSJ minor) is working on a new venture aimed at fighting climate change. She and Atalanta Climate Founder Sally Chen, and Advisor Professor Dong at Georgia Tech, are collaborating with researchers from Lehigh University on a CO2 absorbent to capture CO2 from people’s homes.
“Like many of us, I’ve grappled with climate anxiety—wondering what I can do to make a difference in a world facing immense environmental challenges. If every Vancouverite used one bundle, we could remove enough CO2 to fill 6,365 Olympic-sized swimming pools annually.”
Atalanta Climate offers an ion-exchange resin bead that captures CO2 right at home, removing it permanently from the atmosphere. Imagine this: Each bundle can caputure up to 11 kg of CO2 per year. Unlike other CO2 collection devises, Atalanta’s product does not use harsh chemicals, making it simple and effective.
Ophelia shared that her coursework in GRSJ helped illuminate the nuances of climate change and climate justice and one conversation in particular, with GRSJ 224 instructor Dr. Litsa Chatzivasileiou, stays with her.
“Dr. Chatzivasileiou told me Look out your window. Do you hear the birds singing? There are still so many wonderful things that nature gives us, and there’s so much we can do for them.” This idea keeps me motivated and reminds me that even when the problems feel overwhelming, there are still ways for me to make a difference.”
Ophelia and Sally are committed to getting the word out and are working hard to connect with sustainable businesses, climate-focused organizations, and researchers who share their vision. They recently had a booth at a climate-related film screening and hope to attend more local events focused on climate, sustainability, and the environment to share their passion for their product and hopefully inspire others to to join them in building bottom-up, individual and localized climate solutions.
You can read more about Atalanta Climate and what Ophelia and Sally are up to next on the company’s website and Instagram feed.
