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Flying Tips
Travel by Train Instead
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Amtrak is nearly 20 percent more energy efficient than commercial airlines-and is continuing to improve as they swap diesel locomotives for electric ones. Amtrak offers various passes so you can ride as far or as often as you want. Or pick a route that's made for exploring without a car, like the Adirondack from New York City. Many routes, like the Southwest Chief, have on-board National Park Service Trails & Rails programs. Amtrak also links up with its Canadian counterpart, VIA Rail, which offers flexible rail passes and great summer discounts.
Learn more at National Geographic's Green Guide
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Amtrak is nearly 20 percent more energy efficient than commercial airlines-and is continuing to improve as they swap diesel locomotives for electric ones. Amtrak offers various passes so you can ride as far or as often as you want. Or pick a route that's made for exploring without a car, like the Adirondack from New York City. Many routes, like the Southwest Chief, have on-board National Park Service Trails & Rails programs. Amtrak also links up with its Canadian counterpart, VIA Rail, which offers flexible rail passes and great summer discounts.
Learn more at National Geographic's Green Guide
Travel by Bus Instead
Reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. Many short haul flights can be replaced by other forms of public transport such as buses. Not only will you gain more scenic views along the way, but you'll also escape the headaches of long security lines and lost luggage. Buses also tend to arrive and depart downtown, making it more convenient to get to than an airport. Traveling by bus can also be much, much cheaper, with discount bus tickets starting at $1 and offering amenities such as wi-fi. Check out Mega Bus and Bolt Bus.
Learn more at Climate Care
Reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. Many short haul flights can be replaced by other forms of public transport such as buses. Not only will you gain more scenic views along the way, but you'll also escape the headaches of long security lines and lost luggage. Buses also tend to arrive and depart downtown, making it more convenient to get to than an airport. Traveling by bus can also be much, much cheaper, with discount bus tickets starting at $1 and offering amenities such as wi-fi. Check out Mega Bus and Bolt Bus.
Learn more at Climate Care
Pack Light
The heavier an aircraft, the more fuel it consumes. Cargo and baggage constitute a large portion of an aircraft’s weight. For each reduction of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) per passenger, an aircraft can save 9,000 gallons of fuel annually. Each individual traveler can make a big difference in fuel consumption by packing lightly. The cumulative weight reduction will reduce the total loaded weight of the aircraft and enhance fuel economy, which in turn means fewer CO2 emissions. Packing tips can be found in many sites online. For example, see the packing tips from the American Society of Travel Agents.
Learn more at Enviro Aero
The heavier an aircraft, the more fuel it consumes. Cargo and baggage constitute a large portion of an aircraft’s weight. For each reduction of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) per passenger, an aircraft can save 9,000 gallons of fuel annually. Each individual traveler can make a big difference in fuel consumption by packing lightly. The cumulative weight reduction will reduce the total loaded weight of the aircraft and enhance fuel economy, which in turn means fewer CO2 emissions. Packing tips can be found in many sites online. For example, see the packing tips from the American Society of Travel Agents.
Learn more at Enviro Aero
Buying a Ticket Electronically
Electronic ticketing eliminates the need for a printed ticket and therefore reduces the quantity of paper used. This is better for the environment and will save some 50,000 mature trees every year - around three square miles of forest. See the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for more information on e-ticketing.
Learn more at Enviro Aero
Electronic ticketing eliminates the need for a printed ticket and therefore reduces the quantity of paper used. This is better for the environment and will save some 50,000 mature trees every year - around three square miles of forest. See the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for more information on e-ticketing.
Learn more at Enviro Aero
Plan Your Trip Efficiently
Reduce the impact of air travel by flying direct. A larger percentage of carbon given off by airline flights are emitted during take off and landing. How you decide to travel to the airport can impact CO2 emissions and local air quality. Plan your route to minimize carbon emissions - travel by train and public transport where possible, and minimize internal flights.
Learn more at Conservation International
Reduce the impact of air travel by flying direct. A larger percentage of carbon given off by airline flights are emitted during take off and landing. How you decide to travel to the airport can impact CO2 emissions and local air quality. Plan your route to minimize carbon emissions - travel by train and public transport where possible, and minimize internal flights.
Learn more at Conservation International
What To Consider When Buying Offsets
To solve the problem of climate change, we all need to consider our personal carbon emissions from driving, flying, or even turning on our computers, and we need to make continuous effort to reduce these emissions wherever possible. However, it is impossible to reduce our carbon emissions to zero no matter how hard we try. For this reason, many have taken the additional action of buying greenhouse gas offsets. When you buy offsets, you essentially pay someone to reduce or remove greenhouse gases for you.
All offsets being sold in this new (and voluntary) environmental market, however, are not of equal quality. It is really up to the buyer to ensure that what they are buying does have an additional environmental benefit. A few questions to ask yourself when considering the purchase of offsets:
Clean Air-Cool Planet has published a guide to retail carbon offset providers, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change is a partner organization to the Offsets Quality Initiative (OQI) and an initiative at Tufts University provides information about voluntary carbon offsets.
To solve the problem of climate change, we all need to consider our personal carbon emissions from driving, flying, or even turning on our computers, and we need to make continuous effort to reduce these emissions wherever possible. However, it is impossible to reduce our carbon emissions to zero no matter how hard we try. For this reason, many have taken the additional action of buying greenhouse gas offsets. When you buy offsets, you essentially pay someone to reduce or remove greenhouse gases for you.
All offsets being sold in this new (and voluntary) environmental market, however, are not of equal quality. It is really up to the buyer to ensure that what they are buying does have an additional environmental benefit. A few questions to ask yourself when considering the purchase of offsets:
- Do you know the type of project that has created your offset?
- Is your project directly resulting in GHG reductions?
- Has your offset been verified/validated by a third party?
- Are the offsets from existing projects or projects planned in the future (if so, how long in the future)?
- Is there some proof that your offset has not been sold to multiple buyers?
- Is the seller transparent so that you can answer the previous questions?
Clean Air-Cool Planet has published a guide to retail carbon offset providers, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change is a partner organization to the Offsets Quality Initiative (OQI) and an initiative at Tufts University provides information about voluntary carbon offsets.
