Tread lightly on the road
Photo by Capturing the human heart. on Unsplash
A friend recently asked me what I thought was the most environmentally unfriendly thing we do: driving, ordering takeout, online shopping? I was curious what the prevailing opinion would be, and a quick search for “least sustainable habits” produced several lists. The top habits can be grouped into broad categories:
Aspirational (or complete lack of) recycling
Transportation, mostly focused on driving since the majority of people don’t fly daily
Use of resources like water
Consumption of goods, such as shopping and food
Nothing on these lists was that surprising, but I started thinking. These lists focused on our “every day” wasteful habits, so what about things that we don’t do every day but still might have a large impact? With many people itching to get out again after over a year of Pandemic lock-downs, travel is top of mind.
I love to travel, and many of the experiences I’ve had while traveling gave me a new, life-changing perspective. However, I haven’t always been conscious of my impact on the communities I’m traveling to–how I get there, what I do once I’m there, and why I’m going in the first place.
After some thought and research, I wanted to share how I’m considering my impact a bit more deeply as I plan future trips. In Part One of this series, I want to start with how to get there.
How to get there
90% of the travel industry’s contributions to carbon emissions are attributed to transportation. Famously, Greta Thunberg refuses to travel by air. Meanwhile, other environmental advocates fly around the globe regularly to speak about the importance of protecting our natural resources. Jane Goodall, a fierce and experienced advocate, is on the road for over 300 days each year. All that to say, there isn’t one right answer to how to travel with the environment in mind.
Since there is no dispute that air travel contributes significant amounts to greenhouse gas, how can we reconcile traveling with being eco-friendly?
What you can do:
Fewer connections are better. Who doesn’t hate connections? The stress of running to my gate while carrying all of my stuff and missing my flight is enough to choose my travel destinations based on direct flights and limited connections. Turns out that planes use the most fuel when taking off and landing, so now you have another reason to spring for that direct flight instead of a trip with 4 connections.
Carbon offsets. I haven’t personally tried this yet, but many frequent travelers are purchasing carbon offsets–which fund carbon reduction and renewal projects–as a way to neutralize carbon emissions they contribute by flying. There are many offset providers, but make sure that your choice is vetted by a third party like Green E or The Gold Standard. You can use an online calculator to see how much your trip will cost, and the price may pleasantly surprise you (to offset a six-hour flight from LA to NYC costs about $13). I’ll personally be considering this option for my next trip, which supports sustainability programs in many tourist destinations.
Alternative travel methods. Look, flying is a major polluter. So, can you take a train instead of a plane? I love train travel because you get the benefit of driving (seeing cool scenery), but with the added bonus of being able to walk around and not having to argue about who has to do the next six-hour driving shift. This is obviously more feasible in Europe and the NE United States, but still a worthy option to consider.
In Part Two, I’ll dig into why it matters to think deeply about what you do once get arrive.
