As you will find if you work with one of the ‘carbon footprint’ calculators on the Internet, flying is likely to be the most ‘carbon expensive’ activity in which you participate. And for too many of us, that is frequent participation. One might say that the simple solution is to fly less. But this turns out to be not so simple for many whose jobs or personal responsibilities requires flying.

So what we are really suggesting is to cut out, or cut down, on your trips. This is a form of ‘self-denial’ that many of us may not be ready to handle. But at least start to question the need for any planned trip that involves flying. So for instance, skip that next pleasure trip to Las Vegas (for many reasons!) and instead go somewhere closer to home. You get what we mean.

And even in work situations and those of personal responsibility which appear to require air travel, there are questions which can be raised.  In a world in which instant telecommunications can create Internet meetings with full, simultaneous bi-directional audio and video, you must question the paradigm in the world of corporations, governments, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as to the necessity of that meeting being ‘in person’.  Some of the largest and most prestigious organizations on the planet (the United Nations, the Forbes 500 list of corporations, governments large and small, etc.) exist in a culture where frequent air travel is the standard, a ‘perk’ of office as it were.  To wit, there have been momentous outcries at some where administrations sought to constraint those discretionary trips a bit by requiring that frequent flyer mileage be transfered to the company paying for the trip!

But be careful here. If you are going to travel by some other means, rail and bus are far more ‘carbon lean’ per mile traveled than going by car. In fact, an estimate we saw recently held that driving across the United States would emit more carbon dioxide than flying. There may be all kinds of mitigating factors, like how many are in the car, in the plane, how long is the trip.

The inescapable conclusion is that it is that our wisdom and sense of personal responsibility for protecting life on earth for future generations demands that we think about alternatives. And indeed, if you are guided by your desire to use less fossil fuel, the rest will follow.  As in so many areas of carbon mitigation, there may be few ‘simple answers’.  But your sincere concern will lead you to best solutions for individual situations… and perhaps to teach the wisdom to others along the way.