Little Ways To Help Mother Nature When Flying
Air travel is notorious for its contribution to climate change. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, “travelling by air has a greater climate impact per passenger per kilometer, even over longer distances” than other forms of transportation, with the aviation industry accounting for “four to nine percent of the total climate change impact”.
It’s obvious that something needs to be done to reduce the impact air travel has on our beloved environment and engaging in conversations about this is key to making a positive difference. Demanding change from the ground up and maintaining these desires in the minds of those who have power to make these changes is an ability we all have - especially in the era of social media. The smallest changes often make the biggest statement.
Despite being an environmental activist, sometimes traveling by air is a necessity. It is also something that has given me great joy in my life and is integral to a lot of the work that I, and many other conservationists, do. Awareness of the hypocrisy of campaigning for action on climate change whilst hopping a plane is something that’s always vivid in my mind - hello eco-anxiety, my old friend. So what can we do to minimise our impact on the environment when flying?
Although they may only make a marginal difference, here’s four ways I try to be more mindful of our planet whenever I have to take a flight overseas.
1. Carbon Offsetting
A variety of ways exist to do this, but carbon offsetting essentially involves investing in projects that aim to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as tree planting initiatives and renewable energy production.
Yorkshire-based Make It Wild have recently started a tree planting scheme starting at £4.20 per tonne. Considering the average long-haul flight creates 3 tonnes of carbon per person and often costs hundreds of pounds, for me offsetting the flight for less than £15 is a pretty good deal. What I love the most about Make It Wild as well is that they’re incredible transparent about the benefits for us as consumers and for nature. They also give you a certificate with a map locating your trees and have a carbon offsetting scheme for businesses, which is super handy.
2. Eat Vegan or Vegetarian Flight Meals
It’s no secret that reducing your meat intake can have a significant impact on reducing your carbon footprint. In fact, a paper published this week in the journal BioScience stated that our aim should be to “eat mostly plants and consuming fewer animal products would significantly reduce emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases and free up agricultural lands for growing human food rather than livestock feed”.
Although I’m not strictly vegan or vegetarian in my everyday life, I always request a vegan or vegetarian meal - depending on available options - when booking my flight. Due to the considerable amount of greenhouse gases my flight itself will be contributing to atmosphere, I want to ensure I’m reducing the remainder of my carbon footprint in as many ways as possible, no matter how seemingly minuscule it may be.
3. Refuse Single-Use Plastics
For some reason the endless amounts of pointless plastic irritate me even more on a flight than in everyday life. When ordering drinks you can always try to stick to your guns and just drink water from a reusable water bottle. Flight attendants have always been more than happy to refill it for me throughout a flight and it’s a common myth that you can’t bring them through airport security. Airports are also increasingly installing water fountains to fill up reusable bottles when passengers are in the departure lounge, which can be a huge saving on expensive drinks air-side.
Bringing a reusable coffee cup, which can also be used for other beverages like soft drinks and alcohol, can be handy too. I’ve never been refused by a flight attendant for requesting my own containers be used.
Throughout a long-haul flight that can be considerable saving in single-use plastic cups - think of our ocean-dwelling friends!
4. Fly Direct in Economy Class
Although sometimes a little bit more strenuous on the wallet, flying direct is almost certainly better for the environment. The less you take off, the less fuel you use and consequently the less emissions you pump out into the atmosphere. In fact, a study by NASA found that taking off and landing uses 25% of airplane emissions. It’s a no-brainer then really that the more stops you make on your journey, the more you have to land and take-off, and so the more emissions your flight creates.
As for your travel class, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) “for long-haul flights, carbon emissions per passenger per kilometre travelled are about three times higher for business class and four times higher for first class”. In fact, a study by the World Bank estimates that a seat in first class produces the same amount of carbon emissions as nine economy seats. Not only is flying economy better for the environment, but it will also give you a bigger wallet - something I think we can all get behind.
Thanks to Helen and the team at Make It Wild for sponsoring this post by offsetting 5 tonnes of carbon through tree planting at Bank Woods, Summerbridge in Yorkshire, UK.
It is always a pleasure to support Make It Wild and the fantastic work they are doing for a greener and more sustainable tomorrow for all of us.