Recently a lot of people seem to be debating whether you can fly and as a sustainable traveller, and, there’s a pretty simple answer…
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Yes, you can, but it’s pretty hypocritical.
Nowadays, with our natural world changing so rapidly, it’s becoming more and more apparent the things which are sustainable and the things which are not. As a species, when we realise our actions are bad for the planet, and ultimately our survival, we evolve, progress and find responsible alternatives (hopefully). Sometimes these actions require easy changes and other times they’re pretty hard to swallow. Flying, it seems, along with the required changes, seems to be seriously hard to swallow.
History has shown that whenever new sustainable revelations are made there’s a bit of a backlash. This is particularly the case when it’s something that’s considered a regular habit and is ingrained in our lifestyles. This was the case when we realised the coal industry was largely responsible for air pollution and millions of deaths, when recycling was introduced and when charges were brought in for plastic bags. There is change, people don’t like change, people get used to change. Some people even start to agree the change was for good reason.
Now, this is exactly what’s happening with flying
When you think of a holiday what do you think of? Thanks to clever marketing and convenience, a lot of people think of a plane. If you’re travelling abroad to relax, to learn about new cultures, for work or to see family, in today’s world, that’s generally how it starts.
Most people know flying is bad for the environment, sustainable travellers and experts most definitely do, yet the amount of flights continues to soar every year. The environment has become a hot topic and people are getting seriously creative with how to protect it. Some people recycle more, ethical clothing is on the rise, veganism is soaring but somehow the environmental impacts of flying don’t seem to be considered.
Most governments agree we should each be using far less than 5,000 kg C02 for the whole year. One return long-haul flight can produce more than 6,000 kg C02… the inconvenient truth is staring us in the face and we’re trying to look the other way.
This article is not about why flying is bad for the environment
It’s also not about why we decided to stop flying as sustainable travellers we went through that in a previous article. If that’s what you’re after, take a look at the previous one on the link above, then come back here. This article was inspired by the reactions to the first one and the obvious problems we encountered.
Though we spoke with BBC Radio 4 and ITV This Morning about our commitment to stop flying, the article was met with overwhelming hostility. If people enjoy something they don’t like the suggestion they should stop it. Yes, we expected this response from jet setting travellers but it was the response from the sustainable community that shocked us most.
I thought you guys were on our side…
Green living groups and communities, instead of talk about ethical options, defended their need for holidays and rights to fly. Sustainable travel bloggers, rather than helping to promote greener alternatives, went about justifying their reasons for continuing to fly and why they’re not planning on stopping any time soon.
Most shockingly though was the response at a key climate change meeting, attended by many leading conservationists, activists and experts. Though the event was to talk about global warming and positive methods of change all board members from the outside of the UK had flown. And, they really didn’t enjoy our suggestion that they should stop, opt for web links, or that carbon off-setting wasn’t enough.
These guys were meant to be on our side. Together we’re meant to be pushing forward sustainable initiatives and helping spread them with the world. This all made me consider whether or not you could fly and still be a sustainable traveller, cos they definitely thought you could.
We’d love to know what you think about this topic as it’s something very close to our hearts. Drop us a comment below and let’s get talking!
What even is a sustainable traveller?
In our eyes, a sustainable traveller is someone who puts the environment as a priority over their decisions when travelling. Maybe it’s not every decision, nobody can be perfect, but it’s the majority of them. This means thinking about the impact of your actions and trying to pick options which do as little damage to the natural world. It may not be as convenient or sometimes as cheap but, by and large, the environment is your priority.
How do you travel in the most sustainable way?
Comparing impacts of flying with benefits of flying
Arguments for flying
Bloggers, politicians, activists debunking
Eco hypocracy/setting example
Flight-shaming
Can’t be perfect
Overland possibilities and alternatives
beauty everywhere
Green future
Should we be encouraging people not to fly?
An inconvenient truth
A rise in sustainable travel
In the last half a decade sustainable travel, eco-travel, green travel, responsible travel… whatever you want to call it, it has become a big thing. With social media playing such an active role in travel and tourism, it’s almost hard to find travel articles or ads without some form of sustainable advertising.
This is great, obviously. No matter the reason or motive, people are becoming more aware of the environmental issue facing this planet and incorporating that into holidays and travel, a time most people use to relax, is awesome.
With this rise in sustainable travel it’s also obvious that, like veganism, sustainability has become a selling point. Whether it’s from a multinational travel company or a personal blogger, the eco badge can turn a profit. Whi
For me, as long as these companies or individuals are having a positive impact on the environment then what’s the harm in them making some dollar from it. Whether you believe the famous Instagrammers really believe their sustainable slogans or whether the eco resort is really… eco, is a different argument.
My point is that If they’re promoting sustainability then they’re promoting sustainability. It shouldn’t matter if it’s an article about responsible hiking tips on Everest, How to visit Maya bay ethically, or the importance of responsible travel with a photo of a bikini-clad girl swimming with turtles in Bali (and probably wearing sunscreen containing oxybenzone).
If they’re promoting sustainability then they’re promoting sustainability… or are they?
We’re all for a bit of hypocracy here and there, as long as the end result is of benefit. So, if the bikini-clad girl’s responsible travel tips have greater benefit than the impact of her sunscreen bleaching corals in an area plagued by overtourism then ultimately it’s of benefit. Albeit a harder benefit to measure.
Flying though, flying is pretty different. That’s because, no matter how responsibly you may travel, even if you plant some trees, help in an orphange OR become spiritually enlighted by your travelling experiences, this will not counter the harsh reality of how damaging flying is for our environment.
Can’t be perfect, pick battles, veganism, labels.. As vegans we don’t like this ‘elitist’ vegan club which says you can only be vegan if everything you do, think, say, where, feel is vegan. It’s not productive and pushes people away from veganism. With sustainability I think it’s the same, you can’t be perfect, you have to pick your battles, but something which has as much negative impact as flying should be one of your battles.
It’s like a vegan who doesn’t wear animal products, won’t use products tested on animals, won’t ride animals and watches lots of vegan documentaries but still eats meat. It’s a reality people don’t want to admit.
Travelling, as in the name, is about travelling, getting from A to B, and if you are using the method which is LEAST sustainable then it doesn’t really work.
At the end of the day, labels don’t matter, and if someone think you’re not a sustainable traveller because you occassionally eat an avocado outside of the Americas or your not a vegan because you still have a leather wallet from years ago, then let them think that. But, when people are trying to legitimise flying and promote it as a sustainable travel option then that’s not okay.
How much awareness has Greta Turnberg made from not flying. BBC and ITV.
Overtourism
People don’t like to hear the truth
Finding excuses and thinking it’s their right
as long as they can people rarely think about whether they should.
Not only were we contacted by
I will mention a few things we learned from the aftermath of that article as it had a pretty big impact.
- Flying is very often seen as a ‘right’ people have, something which is often excluded from peoples’ green practices. We were blown away by the amount of ‘sustainable travellers’ who heatedly defended their rights to fly and all the reasons why they should fly
- People love hearing the truth. Except when it’s about something they’re doing and might suggest they have to change their actions.
