|
Flying, for leisure or business, can easily become your biggest personal contribution to climate change, so avoid travelling by air unless it is essential to do so. For example, a return flight to Sydney emits the equivalent of almost 13 tonnes of carbon dioxide per passenger, which is more than the average emissions per person in the UK in a year.
- Flights make up one seventh of the total emissions of people in the UK, but the majority of flights are taken by a relatively small group of people – people who take five or more non-business flights a year make up only 4% of the population but they take about a third of all return flights between them.
- Make fewer journeys. If you must fly long-haul, use direct (non-stop) flights.
- Make shorter journeys.
- Don’t fly within the UK: drive, or take a train or coach instead. Transport Direct helps you plan local and national journeys and allows you to compare journey times and carbon emissions by public transport versus car.
|
|
- Use alternative means of transport to reach Continental Europe. Consult The Man in Seat 61 for information about travelling in the UK and abroad, by train, ship or other non-air travel means. Eurostar from London St Pancras is the gateway to an extensive network of Continental high-speed trains. Complete timetables for all European trains can be found at www.bahn.de.
- Take holidays closer to home, preferably without flying. There are plenty of things to do and places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and elsewhere in Europe.
- Take longer holidays! Replace two one-week holidays by one two-week holiday, thereby reducing the number of flights.
- Cut down on business travel. Try video-conference or use a computer-to-computer system such as DigitalMeeting instead.
- If you must fly, offset your carbon emissions. There are many offsetting schemes these days, but make sure you choose one such as Atmosfair which recognises the full impact of flying and funds projects which genuinely reduce carbon emissions. Read Friends of the Earth’s briefing note or this article from The Independent for more information.
|
