I wanted to take a second and discuss another issue that’s been rolling around in my head, which is, beyond the financial cost to flying, how does this trip impact the environment?
I’m not here to debate the causes or reality of global warming, as far as I’m concerned the science is settled and the impact is real and observable. What I’m wondering is how we can best mitigate our impact? Every action has a consequence, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. I’ve previously discussed why travel is good, but there is the bad. I researched my flight and estimate my round-trip flight will produce around 5 tons of carbon. The average person living in a Western country produces 8 tons of carbon annually so my 5 tons in a week is considerable.
To do what I want to do, there’s no other convenient way to travel, but I should recognize there is a cost to flying and, although debatable how effective they are, carbon offsets are one way to reduce my impact. For me, carbon offsets focus me on the reality of travel. Imagine when you bought an airline ticket if next to the financial cost it also included a carbon calculator estimating how much your flight will contribute to greenhouse gasses?
Anyway, there’s a load of stuff to read on this topic. I used this website as a guide and did buy 5 tons of carbon offsets from here. I guess my point is we need to be mindful of our actions and their downstream consequences. Regardless of the causes of global warming, we need to work towards a healthy planet for the generations following us.
