What you can do
For a bit of light relief and a laugh, see Humour |
If you live near a particular airport:You may be affected by its operations, the noise of planes, air pollution, the Many airports, or even airfields, have local campaigners who would welcome others who share their concerns. Through a local group, you could find out more about the airport, and meet others who are also affected by it, and want to do something. There may a variety of jobs that need to be done by the group – press work, public meetings, street stalls, researching information, admin or fundraising, contributing energy and enthusiasm, technical or planning knowledge, producing leaflets or literature or a website ……… the list goes on…….. You might have just the skills needed, and your contribution would be very much appreciated. Here is a list of groups affiliated to AirportWatch. |
Join other campaigning organisations, also working on climate change or aviation:AirportWatch is an umbrella group, and many other organisations within it are |
What can we all do to reduce our air travel?AirportWatch wants the growth of air travel in the UK to grow only very slowly, and UK aviation carbon emissions to stabilise at around their current level(37.5 MtCO2 per year). That is what is needed, in order to keep the UK’s carbon emissions within the target level for 2050. That would not be depriving anyone of anything they have now – merely stopping our addiction to cheap travel. In a world with a serious problem of carbon emissions altering the global climate, and declining amounts of easily accessible conventional fossil fuels, we are ill advised to lock in ever increasing dependence on air travel. Our current increasing tendency to “hyper-mobility” and a growing expectation of being able to visit / travel to any part of the globe, cheaply does not sit easily with the UK’s responsibilities on carbon emissions. But this boils down to everyone looking at their own lifestyle choices. Our personal transport and travel choices are our own responsibility. We cannot morally blame companies or governments, if as individuals we do not take personal responsibility to limit our personal carbon footprints. It may involve asking ourselves some tricky questions, and making difficult decisions. |
“Responsible travel is the route to a happy holiday”Comprehensive schedule of trains in Europe Great value coach trips Eurolines The Man in Seat Sixty-One – useful advice about how to travel by train in Europe Useful Links:
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Compare modes of transport, for journeys worldwide and not only in the UK, using Red Planet Travel’s websiteThe website can plan your journey for you, using whichever method of travel you want. Sadly it does not give any indication of the associated carbon emissions of the journey. Red Planet Travel and Some sample comparisons (The figures just give CO2 emissions – the figures for planes should be doubled, to take account of other effects of air pollutants at altitude). |
Try train travelFor almost all journeys in England, Wales or Scotland, rail is a very acceptable alternative to flying. AirportWatch would like to see a big reduction in internal flights in the UK, where there is a good rail service. Taking the train probably has around a tenth as much climate changing effect as taking a plane, per passenger. See below. Flight-Free Holidays. See the Guardian’s top 100 flight free holidays. Details ….. |
Try reducing CO2 emissions with Video ConferencingIt is highly desirable for businesses to reduce emissions. The BT Video Conferencing website shows how to reduce CO2, and how avoiding travel to meetings is also more cost-effective. You can work out the emissions of CO2 saved by replacing face-to-face meetings with conferencing, using the calculator on their website. |
Try holidaying in BritainBy holidaying in Britain, rather than jetting off, you’ll save a huge amount of fuel and greenhouse gas emissions. You don’t have to miss out on fantastic beaches either – find the best with the Marine Conservation Society’s ‘Good Beach Guide’ at www.goodbeachguide.co.uk and the Blue Flag Campaign at http://www.blueflag.org/ See the Visit Britain website for ideas for UK holidays See Hoseasons for lots of holidays in the UK Rent a holiday cottage in the UK and so many other brilliant ways to enjoy the vast amount the UK has to offer. |
Complain about misleading air travel advertisementsIf you see misleading adverts by the airline industry, and you wish to complain |
How about carbon off-setting? NO !AirportWatch are not convinced by off-setting. A few of the schemes may be mildly beneficial. None has the effect of immediately removing the CO2 that your flight has generated from the atmosphere. Most offsetting is akin to the Medieval Pardons, to salve the conscience. To see a tremendous spoof offsetting website, showing how daft offsettig can be, see Cheat Neutral Friends of the Earth have produced a report (32 pages)entitled: ‘A Dangerous Distraction. Why offsetting is failing the climate and people: the evidence’The report exposes carbon offsetting as ineffective and damaging, and is released to mark the launch of FoE’s Demand Climate Change Campaign for a strong and fair global climate agreement at UN talks – which culminate in Copenhagen in December. FoE exposes carbon offsetting as a con which is failing to reduce, and in some cases is even increasing, carbon emissions. The UK Government is actively promoting the increased use of offsetting at the UN climate talks, including proposing a plan to carbon offset by buying up forests – which will not stop deforestation and will cause significant social harm to the people that rely on them. FoE press release 2.6.2009 The full report as well as a summary of key facts from the report, is available |
So – what can we do to reduce our air travel?
There may be measures all of us can take to reduce the air travel component of our own carbon footprints. Some of these involve difficult choices. You may like to try thinking
about these tricky questions:
– Is my flight really necessary?
really sustainable?
on cheap flights that we find it hard to do without them?
we will not cut down on it ourselves?
Try train travel
alternative to flying. AirportWatch would like to see a big reduction in internal
flights in the UK, where there is a good rail service. Taking the train probably
has around a tenth as much climate changing effect as taking a plane, per passenger.
to flying. European trains are fast and efficient, the journey by Eurostar from
London to Paris is about the same as a flight, and for many people, the experience
of rail travel is genuinely more pleasant than that of flying.
made to hang around for hours in order to make you buy things at the airport,
the queuing, the walking down lengthy terminal corridors, more queuing for baggage
reclaim ………….
If you are concerned about aviation and its environmental effects:
Your main concern may be with the growth of air travel, and the environmental
damage it does. This is not only climate change, but also destruction of communities,
damage to habitats near airports, noise and local air pollution
Why is air travel uniquely damaging?
are released high into the atmosphere, where they do more damage than on the
ground. Nitrogen oxides and water vapour are produced with aircraft exhaust
gases, and these produce an effect perhaps twice as bad as the CO2 alone. (The
exact extent of this “radiative forcing” as it is called, is uncertain, as the
science is complex and there are many different variables and components. A multiplier
of about 2 may be conservative, but is thought to be approximately correct).
Taking into account the x2 multiplier, a return trip for one person by air to
New York produces about the same amount of climate changing effect as an average
UK car (about 35 mpg) in a whole year’s motoring. A return flight to Rome would
produce about as much climate changing effect as all of one person’s gas and electricity
use for a year. The longer your flight, the more CO2 emitted into the atmosphere
(though the taking off is the worse component of the flight – for emissions).
This demonstrates how easy it is – when flying – to produce a huge % of a person’s
CO2 output, without ever really being aware of it. Driving 6,000 miles in a car
would take a very long time, and be extremely tiring and boring. You can produce
the same emissions of CO2 in a couple of hours on a plane, comfortably sipping
a glass of wine and watching a movie.
The amount of CO2 that each person’s activities put into the atmosphere (heating,
lighting, car use, travel, use of appliances, things we buy, services we use)
is called our carbon footprint.
The UK Government has set itself a target of a 80% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to their 1990 level, for the country, by 2050. With air travel growing at its current rate, (perhaps
3 -4% per year) we are on target for aviation to contribute a higher and higher proportion of the UK’s total CO2 emissions.
Aviation emissions will continue to grow, under current government policies, while all other sectors of the economy have to cut theirs. If a new runway is built in the south east, we will have real difficulties in keeping UK carbon emissions within the national target, and all other sectors would be required not only to make cuts of about 80% on their 1990 level, but more like 85%. Just so aviation can be allowed to increase emissions. That is a case of a deplorable absence of “joined up thinking.”
HUMOUR …..
And if all that has left you needing a bit of light relief ………
and a true patriot ………
and
BA Hostesses video clip
Fascinating Aida – Cheap Flights – on YouTube