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Is anyone else struggling to justify flying for pleasure in light of the overwhelming climate issues ? I’m starting to wonder if I can justify flying anymore and would love to hear other peoples thoughts.
Tbh no. I'm not flying because there's nowhere I really want or need to fly to.
But it's been 5 years since I last got on a plane.
Not me. Planning a month on west coast USA next year.
I can offset the CO2 for a very reasonable £30
Yes. I used to fly for work and I loved it. But now I can't justify it. Our company has also restricted it.
Yes and no. I've not flown anywhere since before Covid but had a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Australia last month so I guess that's a couple of years worth of emissions in one fell swoop.
Not planning on any further trips - a mix of cost/hassle etc but also feeling slightly guilty at contributing to the problem.
I've dramatically reduced my driving as well (not that it was ever much to begin with) but things like day or weekend trips to the Lakes have been cut back a lot - again, partly cost but partly environmental considerations.
Not flown at all for 17 years now. Have one more set of flights planned in my lifetime, USA return trip… and then that’s it. Flying every year, never mind many times a year, seems like self indulgently laughing at the destruction of habitat, in my opinion. Different if you have loved ones that can only be reached by air, of course.
No plans to fly at the moment. My last flight was almost exactly 4 years ago - Glasgow/Barra for a few days. Previous was Spain, a couple of years before that. That would be my total for 10 or more years.
Yes, climate concerns do put me off.
I've reduced the amount of driving I do too.
I’ve swapped driving to the office ~200miles week for flying 500miles to an office once a month. No idea if it works out better but I prefer it.
I ain't getting on no plane fool.
Become a bone of contention with MrsMC. Getting to the point where kids are old enough that we could go abroad for now on our own, but while there are places it would be "nice" to visit, I'm not feeling a "need" to, and there are loads of places in the UK I'd sooner discover with a lower environmental impact. It's one of the reasons I haven't bothered renewing my passport, and she is not happy about it. (I will renew my passport this winter for ID purposes and maybe some Eurostar trips next year)
In a fit of STW type hypocrisy, I'm happy for my kids to do non-holiday foreign trips and fly to give them experience of countries and cultures that I've already had.
Was flying every other year pre-covid. You can't help but be aware of the huge amount of energy required to lift off and land, and the thought of however many thousands of people currently airborne is a bit weird.
Flew recently, to Italy. Enjoyed it. That'll do for a while.
*brings glass of milk for kayak23*
23 years since I last flew (though I was flying around 75 times a year with work never for pleasure) with no plans to ever fly again.
Not an issue for myself as I’ve only flown 3 times in my life for 6 month extended trips and haven’t flown since 2001, won’t be on a plane again.
I do have a log burner/multi fuel stove though and get through 2/3 bags of anthracite and a few bags of logs per week so I guess I’m still going to hell.
Yep defo. I used to do between 6 and 9 foreign holidays a year, every year until 2020. Not flown since then.
No passport for over ten years, causes problems as no photo driving licence either. Good, very good friends in California that we’ve visited a good few times, but, we decided that Britain was ok, plenty to see without flying, and we’ll keep in touch in other ways. Obviously not the physical ways but the best for our descendants.
Yes - it concerns me. Not in a keeps me awake at night kind of way but in a I'd feel like a selfish dick kind of way.
But whilst there are mugs with a bit of conscious that fall for*....
Not me. Planning a month on west coast USA next year.
I can offset the CO2 for a very reasonable £30https://ba.chooose.today/
/blockquote>and bellends like Mrs C's company owner that insta's her champagne quaffing business class weekly travels as some sort of status symbol....
my snowflake hand wringing comes to **** all.
* or is it just convenient to run with the carbon offset concept without thinking it through too hard to do the stuff you really want to do?
@somafunk where do you get anthracite from and why do you need to use it?
It's not the "climate change" element of flying that's cut down the number of flights I do, it's just that I find the whole process of "airports" so bloody un-pleasant.
Need to get there stupidly early
Traffic/Car parking regulations/Car parking charges (extortion)
Hire car cost
Queuing everywhere
Over-crowding everywhere
****s who recline seats and invade what little space the airline have reluctantly let me occupy
Lost luggage etc etc - the list is endless! 😠
Then having to do it all again one/two weeks later...
Pre covid we thought maybe we we would fly once a year as we can afford it now. That happened once. We will fly again including once to Australia where we have relatives. But it will be less than it might have been
But I really like my holidays abroad !! Theoretically, how many mature trees would you have to own to off-set say 1hr of flight time ?
where do you get anthracite from and why do you need to use it?
Coalman drops off 2 or 3 bags week depending on how much I use, I use it to keep warm, kinda strange question though?.
It’s not the “climate change” element of flying that’s cut down the number of flights I do, it’s just that I find the whole process of “airports” so bloody un-pleasant.
Definitely agree with this!
Haven't flown for almost 16 years, mainly the stress/agro of it all, then the passports expired nearly 10 years back. Aware of pollution at the time, but wasn't the critical factor.
We probably will fly again, my Mrs probably wants to see her parents a few more times before they die.
No.
I used to work in Latin America. When I came home in 1999 I decided to try not to fly; for climate reasons. Since then I have only flown to Belfast once for work.
I do get very ichy feet at times. Maybe I will take a flight across the Atlantic one day for a long trip where my overall impact would be less than living at home… (yes I know that is a little bit spurious but it keeps me happy dreaming) but I can’t justify flying for short holidays.
I find it kind of odd that some colleagues (I work in an organisation the whole purpose of which is env and sustainability) and friends are in denial about the impact of flying and the think I’m odd.
Never much enjoyed the process of flying.
Used to fly several times a year for work... Fly out check location, fly back. Fly out for the put in, fly back. Fly out a few days later for the takedown. Crazy. Got to the point where I would ask for the train to the location if it wasn't too much bother with changes and time.
Flew out to Split a few months back for a job and it just reminded me how much I dislike the process.
Recently took the train from Munich to London and back via Paris. Much nicer experience, only an hour or so longer door to door and 20€ more than flying. I get to sit and drink beer whilst watching the world go by. No constraints on what you can take weight wise.
Having said that I've left Munich and am going to have to rely on flying for work. Not proud of that.
I've a mate who flies to various sites across Europe, often taking a flight everyday of the week.
It's the business travel that really is the problem. A family going on their one foreign holiday a year not so much.
It’s definitely something I think about. I certainly wouldn’t take a long haul flight for a short holiday, seems totally unnecessary. Likewise I try to cut down on driving.
Carbon offsetting is snake oil
I haven't flown for a holiday for over 20 years and last time I flew for work was about 10 years ago. Not really through choice though (too many animals to go on holiday and work hasn't required it)
I wouldn't actually worry about it if I did want to fly as I wrote off the world doing anything to slow down climate change about 10 years ago and looks like I am being proved right. It now looks more definite than ever that the world will just have to deal with/live with the impact of it as it gets worse.
It’s the business travel that really is the problem.
I fly a lot for work, roughly 4000 km a month. Thinking about the principles of mass-transit and the drive to get more people out of cars and onto trains/buses, if split between ~200 people per flight then how does flying compare to my old job driving around in a van doing maybe 1500 km a month?
*brings glass of milk for kayak23*
I love it when a plan comes together...
I’ve flown for two trips since covid started and both have reminded me why I hate commercial airlines. The second trip (to the U.K. sadly) was not even on a budget airline, but was just a horrific cattlejam all the way there and back. That and the having to wait for immigration and security and the cost….
Prague still had the security and that, but the Schengen travel makes everything feel easier.
I do find it hard to justify trips by air though. There’s so much of Sweden I can get to by car or train that I have not seen yet that going to Europe is a bit excessive. A lot of people “have to” go somewhere sunny in winter here, but I’m fine with enjoying the skating and cross country skiing.
it’s just that I find the whole process of “airports” so bloody un-pleasant.
This is a fair point too - the anxiety of all that wrecked any short term breaks for me, but that my own weird head
Yes - personally I've not flown since 2015 (although wife and daughter have). Had every holiday in the UK since. Not 100% down to climate guilt, but it does make me think when ever the opportunity has risen to go abroad.
Aim to have a trip to Italy in the next 5 years or so, but nothing other than that - wife's family live in southern Spain and fly regularly back and forward to the uk replying heavily commercial air travel, we haven't visited them in Spain as a family in years, which is a big bone of contention.
Not really cutting down. I fly a reasonable amount for work (3 return flights to west coast USA a year at the front), a few European flights per year with the family doesn't make a huge dent in that. A European flight doesn't emit a huge amount of co2 compared to lots of other things we do so I'm comfortable with it
Yes. One of the reasons we went to Spain this summer was to take the ferry instead. One stopped any UK internal flights.
We're kicking around an autumn bike tour next October, and last night were looking at train options and therefore where we could go.
That said, I'm not totally against. My kids flew this year, I've staff today returning from Slovakia, yesterday from South Spain, and they had to fly because it was a couple of day, expensive option to take train.
Bring on the new ferry from Rosyth in 2023 I say...
I fly a reasonable amount for work (3 return flights to west coast USA a year at the front), a few European flights per year with the family doesn’t make a huge dent in that.
Wow I guess it depends on your opinion of what "reasonable" is - I'd say that's 3x to the US + over 2 family holidays abroad a year is excessive / unusual at the least.
One of the contestants on Strictly this year (so I'm told...obviously) flew to Mauritius for his brothers wedding. Was there 2.5 hours then flew back to carry on rehearsals.
It's more the sort of thing you'd keep quiet about nowadays rather than make a virtue of it as they did on the show the other night (so I'm told)
In a fit of STW type hypocrisy, I’m happy for my kids to do non-holiday foreign trips and fly to give them experience of countries and cultures that I’ve already had.
I have this as well. My kids are young but I would like them to travel as the point of view especially if via work where you are not a tourist really helps give a good perspective of many things and many moans people have about were they live etc.
I’ve a mate who flies to various sites across Europe, often taking a flight everyday of the week.
This is were the majority of air miles are I suspect and it's not what people think of people just going for meetings that they could do remotely. The number of specialist service engineers, fitters, installers heading off all over the place is massive. I am not sure how you fix this as specialists are by their nature not everywhere and this is doubly true when it comes to company specific equipment.
Wow I guess it depends on your opinion of what “reasonable” is – I’d say that’s 3x to the US + over 2 family holidays abroad a year is excessive / unusual at the least.
A few hoildays a year is a lot on a personal level but 3 work flights is not and these need to be separated.
My old job was ~2 return trips a month but I have only flown about 2 times over the last ten years for personal trips.
Climate issues are definitely something that would make me think hard about flying for leisure, along with the airport experience.
I've only flown for holidays (within Europe) 3 times in my 53 years and once to Australia for work. I have flown a good number of times (maybe 20?) between Shetland and Aberdeen or Edinburgh when i lived up there, but mainly for hospital trips. Even then after a while I decide the overnight ferry was less hassle. Also a similar number of inter-island flights up there for work.
Next year we plan to ferry to the Netherlands to bike tour (was cancelled due to covid). The flight I have in mind is to return to Norway at some point, but no idea when!
By contrast my daughter seems to fly on holiday 3-4 times a year without a second thought. Not sure how she affords it.
I had a colleague and friend in Shetland who was always hammering on about the climate crisis, peat habitat s, and co2, but regularly flew to Glasgow or London for concerts, had long haul holidays around the world, and a SUV despite living 15mins walk from the office 🤣
In short, we're **×*×*!
Agree with the OP, going back a decade or two I was mostly flying for work and tacking on a few days of holiday to make the most of the trip. Nowadays I don't really have that excuse, it's all holiday. Being a climate scientist, there is a bit of guilt involved...just had my first flight since the pandemic, a great trip but I do wonder how much I should be doing...
A few hoildays a year is a lot on a personal level but 3 work flights is not and these need to be separated.
A friend of mine, in his previous job, had to fly from the UK to Brazil once a month to do 3 days of work.
Out on Sunday night, back on Thursday morning. 12 times a year. 😳
On one level you hear about stuff like that and think "well **** it, my flight to Spain is nothing amongst all of that" although on another level I do wonder how anyone thinks that sending an employee across the Atlantic 12 times a year is an efficient use of time and resources?!
Last flew 5 years ago, won't be any more. Must've taken 80 flights over my lifetime, not hugely proud of that. Train or ferry to Europe is great, spent a month interrailing this year, may use ferry / train to Spain in the future.
Like a few others, we used to fly regularly, in our case for ski trips. Over lockdown we took the decision that we won't fly again unless there's a very good reason, and "we want to go there on holiday" is not a good reason, so it doesn't look like we'll ever ski again in North America. Mostly we'll holiday in the UK, there's plenty to go at still, then drive to France for a 2 week ski trip (or longer) rather than multiple one week trips
I did talk to the CEO of my employer about our ESG strategy (ESG = Environment, Sustainability and Governance, the current buzzword for proving how green your business is and thus critical in attracting investors). It looks like when i asked what our strategy was, he assumed i was an expert and would tell him how to appear green without actually making any changes. I think he was hoping to get away with just sponsoring some "carbon offsetting" greenwashing schemes, whereas i actually came up with suggestions that would involve make changes in working practices and company outlay like encouraging people to work from home (since my meeting they changed the corporate line from "you can come to the office if you want" to "we want you in the office two days a week") and offering interest free loans to buy season tickets for public transport or to buy e-bikes for commuting, and perhaps reducing free parking at work (and providing more cycle friendly facilities like secure storage, showers, lockers etc)
Strangely, he ghosted me after that, never got round to arranging the follow up meeting. Almost as though he didn't really want to do anything...
I hate the airports and usually feel pretty guilty about the CO2, but the alternative is to accept that I basically won't be visiting Europe again until I'm retired, which (first world problem) is just a bit too much to accept, I've only just scratched the surface of European road cycling and say what you like about British riding, it's just not the same.
It's like any other addiction I guess, you have to really really want to stop ☹️
I did talk to the CEO of my employer about our ESG strategy
I was flown half the length of Britain and drove about 4hrs total in order to assess the feasibility of swapping gas boilers to air source heat pumps in a small office building, as it made better 'business sense' that my office did it than to let another office take the work.
Funnily enough my final report on the CO2 emissions saved by going to heat pumps didn't include the C02 emitted in the process of producing the report. I have a horrible feeling there would have been no nett reduction 😖
18 flights so far this year with another 6 booked before Christmas, pre Covid it was about 100 per year for the last 7 years, all for work, non-work about 4 in the 10 years.
My office is in the back Garden, but I teach technicians from all over Europe, Middle East and Asia, my training center is in Italy as it’s not practical to do it in at my house.
Doesn’t even factor into my decision making
Not a huge flier (probably average once a year) but even if i was I’m more Than happy that my carbon footprint on this world is tiny compared to others
No kids, barely drive etc means I fly guilt free
Absolutely not. Haven't flown for vacation for years and managed to stop work stuff by insisting on virtual meetings. It can't be done for everything but once you start reducing you find that others want to too but just didn't want to stick their heads up.
Not convinced about carbon offsetting either, seems to easy to scam. If we **** up the planet there is no going 'oh I didn't realise it was serious'. We already know that
I think five or six trips this year, only one work and at least two work trips booked for early next year (delivery of specialist training that can only be done face to face).
Can’t say I’m planning to change my ways unless I stop working.
As above “ No kids, barely drive etc means I fly guilt free”
One flight a year doesn't give you a "tiny" carbon footprint. It may not be a huge one if your flight is short and your life is otherwise frugal. But it's not "tiny", regardless of whether a small minority are considerably worse...
Like many I fly for work, though much less long haul than I used to.
Personally I avoid flying, don't like it and can't justify the fuel.
For skiing we take the Eurostar ski train and for biking drive via Newcastle Amsterdam ferry for two weeks.
Bring on the Rosyth ferry!
I have accepted that I will probably not travel beyond the continent of Europe on holiday again. Bit of a shame, but plenty in Scotland/Europe.
Only flown once since before Covid and that was to Paris (train was more expensive and took a lot longer).
But no, in the grand scheme of things my CO2 output due to flying doesn't worry me very much and I will continue to fly once a year for pleasure.
I am however quite aware of our carbon footprint at home even though it's an uphill battle with the rest of the family. Our current car is a 1 litre Fiat 500 and the one on order (if it ever turns up) is a 1.6 self charging hybrid. I also now work from home 3 days a week which reduces my travel by 180 miles a week.
At some point we will go fully electric and install solar.
I've only ever flown once or twice a year, mostly Europe, 3 times across the Atlantic. The co2 does bother me, but realistically giving up on those flights won't make a difference - which I also know isn't the right attitude, but realistic. I don't plan to fly more often, less so if anything, and I will always consider alternatives (I don't think driving to Europe is any better on a per person basis).
Probably better environmentally is having reduced personal meat consumption considerably over the years. Rarely eat red meat, Vege lunches where possible, 3 or 4 Vege dinners a week, low meat content where we do have it.
Fly every couple of weeks for work, though try and do train for uk stuff if feasible.
Got a couple of holidays boked next year, short haul. Not flown for 3 years. I cycle to work, and rarely drive to ride, prefer to ride from home.
Theoretically, how many mature trees would you have to own to off-set say 1hr of flight time ?
It's not really that simple. You could, of course, spend the £30 on carbon offsetting and also NOT take the flight, if you really cared.
Plane emissions for a full plane are something like 90kg per hour per passenger.
It’s not the “climate change” element of flying that’s cut down the number of flights I do, it’s just that I find the whole process of “airports” so bloody un-pleasant.
Me too. Plus being stuck in a claustrophobic tube for hours. I find with holidays the juice isn't worth the squeeze unless you're going for a long time.
Been away to Europe 4 times this year. Flown twice (both with long transfers at the far end), train once, driven once.
Even with the transfers, flying was by far the cheapest option - especially solo (although airport parking costs made it more of a close run thing than I was expecting). Hating the airport experience at the moment.
Train was (mostly) pretty civilised once in Europe. It worked well for us as we can get straight to St Pancras from home then walk across the platform onto the Eurostar. The worst part of the journey is the UK trains. (other than the sleeping under the seats on the overnight TGV bit - but that's choice). It was then 20 minutes in a car to the final destination
Driving was pretty brutal and not cheap. If we could have taken bikes (bagged up) on the Eurostar we'd have done that. The euro end of things was not too bad, just long (again overnight), but as ever the 4+ hours driving in the UK to get to/from Folkestone was abysmal.
Time wise, there's very little in it. Flying and train took around 12hrs door-door, driving was more like 16hrs
Guilt? Not really. I accept there's an impact of everything I do. I'm good in some areas; woeful in others. I'm another of the "haven't spawned another generation of polluters" gang, so feel that give me a little more leeway with what I do.
Longhaul? Unlikely. I won't go to America currently for political reasons. I'd love to go back to Canada to ride and to ski, but suspect I've missed the boat on doing that vaguely cost efficiently. Plenty more to explore in Europe.
I'm not going to stop travelling just to be environmentally friendly (although happy to adapt the mode). The reason I bother getting up every day and going to work is to be able to afford to spend time in the mountains. I live on the edge of the Peaks, which is pretty damn good and keeps the "outside hit" topped up, but its not the same thing at all as proper big mountains in summer or winter. As and when I can no longer do that, either through health, or because it's been banned/made unaffordable, well - that'll be the end of me. The world won't mourn another selfish bastard...
I was more thinking how much woodland I would have to buy (and protect) to ease my conscious.
I'm not going to stop flying for leisure/personal travel anytime soon.
I've travelled a fair bit for work and am likely to need to go to Australia and Canada in the next 12 -18 months so it seems pointless not flying for a holiday?
For context my boss recently flew business class from London to India just to go to a ship naming ceremony...
I had to wrestle with my conscious over a work trip to London (to visit a Passivhaus building) back in May. I ended up going but wasn’t particularly happy about the flying (pretty 2 full days travel by train from Inverness).
I’d not flown since 2012 (Geneva), passport ran out in 2015. I have made the decision to (try and) never fly again if it can be avoided.
Like others on here it’s not really been that difficult for me personally (I hate the process of flying, airports, security, all the hanging about and anxiety of journey to the airport, etc.).
I’ve had two intercontinental trips (Colorado), <10 european/Scandinavian return trips and a couple UK for ‘pleasure’ in my 50+ years. A couple of euro trips for work, ~5 years of 12-14 trips to/from Shetland from ABZ and maybe ~6 return trips to London/etc. for training, etc. So personal travel must be below (western) average or standards. I worked in department sporting Sustainability in the title where most people had at least one IC and 2 euro trips a year… (they’d bring back a local Starbucks mug to commemorate the fact…)
Decision been pretty organic (rather than long standing conviction), I’d ‘planned’ (pre-Trump) on a Tour Divide and putting that particular dream to rest sealed it I guess.
I have a family wedding in upstate NY next year. My hatred of travel, coupled with I’m not really a person you’d want at your wedding (I’m really not suited for these type events) means it’s highly unlikely I’ll go (although I will guilty about ‘letting down’ my niece).
We were given 10 years to get shit sorted out about 4 years ago and we’ve not really done anything worth a shit so far. Climate has changed (and for the worse) looks like we’ll miss the cutoff for 1.5-2 degree rise.
Await the ‘why did nobody warn us’ wailing when its all too late.
It won’t really affect me much, I’ll be dead and gone before the real shit hits the fan.
I’d just like to think I wasn’t one that didn’t try, even if it was only a little.
I'm probably going to do a PPL and buy a plane in the next couple of years so will be flying.
However, I've only been on about 10 commercial flights in 40 years and only 2 have been for holidays the rest were work.
I’m not going to stop flying for leisure/personal travel anytime soon.
I’ve travelled a fair bit for work and am likely to need to go to Australia and Canada in the next 12 -18 months so it seems pointless not flying for a holiday?
That's a bit like saying "I recognise meat production has a greater environmental impact than a plant based diet but because I partake of a bacon roll at the Friday work get together I might as well just eat meat 3 times a day for the rest of the week too".
First step to reducing impact is to identify the difference between needs and wants. As a society with a rather high degree of self entitlement it's something most of us struggle with.
I fly a lot for work, roughly 4000 km a month. Thinking about the principles of mass-transit and the drive to get more people out of cars and onto trains/buses, if split between ~200 people per flight then how does flying compare to my old job driving around in a van doing maybe 1500 km a month?
Flying is roughly* as bad as driving a single-occupant car. The differentiator is the scale it allows, 300 people wouldn't independently think driving 1600miles for 24h to Malaga is a good idea, but they will do it in 3 on a plane.
*within the margins of arguing about aviation being worse due to the high altitude, long Vs short haul, Prius Vs Focus, etc.
I was more thinking how much woodland I would have to buy (and protect) to ease my conscious.
Nope. Just nope. The "offsetting" thing is 90% bollocks and 10% scam. If you're burning fossil fuels, you are adding to atmospheric CO2.
By all means plant trees for the environment, there are lots of reasons why this is often a good idea (in the right location), but don't pretend that it somehow makes up for burning fossil fuels. It doesn't.
Haven't flown since 2016 here. I am planning a big holiday at some point in say, the next five years (Canada or Japan) but I'll go for a month or more and that will be my only flights for a decade.
Internal flights in the Uk should be banned. We're a small Island, it shouldn't be necessary. Other more developed nations (Europe) are offering either heavily subsidised, or even free rail journeys to ease the energy crisis but also nudge towards more environmentally friendly transport. Meanwhile in this country it's increasingly difficult to even conduct a reliable train journey on a route like the West Coast mainline. The fact that its cheaper to fly the distance instead is just bonkers - it would be better if all flights had a tax levied that more realistically reflects their environmental impact, making them an exclusive last option instead of the norm.
I haven’t flown since 2018 but will be flying to Iceland next year. Not sure about the following year. Mrs T more keen than I am to go abroad.
From what I can tell, the people who climate change will affect the most don’t seem to give a hoot.
Several of the younger ones I work with are always off flying here there and everywhere, several times a year, even for weekend breaks. No real thought on any carbon footprint they are leaving.
Devil's advocate - there are places around the world that depend on tourism to sustain their population and help them become more prosperous. If nobody flies these people will see a massive downturn in their way of life, and many have already suffered during the pandemic. Are you happy not to help their recovery.
Furthermore, not travelling leads to a lack of direct experience of other cultures and an increased risk of divisive "them and us" attitudes.
Yes. Not been on a plane since 2008 and got rid of my last car in 2012 for exactly this reason.
I’ve committed be flight free
Not just for a year though, permanently.
I’d like to see flying and going on cruises becoming as antisocial as littering or flinging a bagged dog turd into a tree.
You can do it, you’re just being too selfish not to
@jonm81 - would love to know how you get on with the PPL - I've had it in the back of my mind as something to do for years! Would be a right bonus for visiting customers who are hundreds of miles away!!
My house is now off grid (despite still having to pay an annual connection fee to the grid) bar water supply and my energy comes from solar panels and two wind turbines. I've had an electric cars since 2015 (but we won't talk about the byproducts of manufacturing the batteries hey!). This is charged by my Powerwall setup. I don't really buy much and cycle as much as i can so i'm not bothered about going skiing a couple of times a year or going abroad for work or holiday. The plane will be leaving anyway regardless as to whether i'm on it or not.
Internal flights in the Uk should be banned. We’re a small Island, it shouldn’t be necessary. Other more developed nations (Europe) are offering either heavily subsidised, or even free rail journeys to ease the energy crisis but also nudge towards more environmentally friendly transport. Meanwhile in this country it’s increasingly difficult to even conduct a reliable train journey on a route like the West Coast mainline. The fact that its cheaper to fly the distance instead is just bonkers – it would be better if all flights had a tax levied that more realistically reflects their environmental impact, making them an exclusive last option instead of the norm.
There's some evidence that the cheap Lumo trains between London and Edinburgh have taken on a fair chunk of people who would otherwise fly between the two cities.
Elsewhere, you're right, trains are desperately unreliable and slow. We really need HS2 from London all the way up to both Edinburgh and Glasgow... High speed rail is a generally eco-friendly and viable alternative to flying.
I was looking at travel back from the north of Scotland a while ago and while internal flights were quite expensive and trains were expensive and slow, it was actually cheaper to fly Scotland to Spain and then get a transfer back to England. Insane.
Airlines know where the cheap / loss-leader fares need to be and then jack the prices on internal (which is predominantly business) travel.
@crazy-legs - there has been zero investment in the railways or any infrastructure and it's now starting to bite. I wanted to get back up to Manchester from Surrey to see the folks, not only was it absurdly expensive Arriva or whatever are they called have reduced the service....needless to say i just drove in the end. HS2 is needed and all railway routes need to be upgraded to make the service a viable option, but yet again the UK is all about quick fixes and nothing really gets any better. Go to Spain or Switzerland and they have some of the best trains in the world and the prices are really fair.....not £330 for a return first class ticket from Euston to Mcr Piccadilly.
One flight a year doesn’t give you a “tiny” carbon footprint. It may not be a huge one if your flight is short and your life is otherwise frugal. But it’s not “tiny”, regardless of whether a small minority are considerably worse…
Meh
It’s not a small minority who are worse. My holiday will generate about 500kg of co2 all in. By not having 2 kids (average family size) I’m saving about 20 tons of emissions a year. Sure it’s 500kg ‘extra’ I’m generating, but I simply don’t care. The same people who preach about the climate crisis screw this planet over far worse than me.