Fly right.
Yes, commercial jets are big emitters of carbon dioxide, but that's not all. "Contrails -- those pretty, white-vapor ribbons in the sky," writes de Rothschild, "trap heat in the atmsophere as efficiently as CO2 does and may also encourage the formation of heat-trapping, high-altitude cirrus clouds."
Trip Tips
- Take a non-stop flight. As much as one quarter of the fuel used during short flights is used at takeoff.
- If your destination is less than 600 miles, consider driving, or taking the bus or train. (Most fuel-efficient flight length: 2,700 miles.)
- Try to book one of the more fuel-efficient jets -- the Airbus A340, Airbus A380, or Boeing B787.
- Buy carbon credits to offset the emissions from your trip.
To calculate the carbon emissions for your next trip -- by plane, car, train or bus -- go NativeEnergy.com/travel. There you can find out how much CO2 your trip will emit and the cost of carbon credits to offset the trip. Best of all, you're given an opportunity to purchase these carbon credits through Native Energy, which invests your dollars into new, renewable energy projects. There you'll also find a video presenting a short, simple explanation for how carbon offsetting works.
2 comments:
We're planning a trip back and forth to L.A. from Phoenix - one of us driving, the other taking a one-way flight on a later date, and both of us riding back home together. We calculated our carbon emissions at www.NativeEnergy.com - .229 tons for the round-trip drive and .079 for the one-way flight. Though other carbon calculators show that it's only a couple of dollars to offset the cost of these emissions, Native Energy rounds up to the nearest whole ton, which would make the cost of our carbon offset $12 (an amount we're pleased invest in the Native Energy WindBuilders project we're especially supportive of.)
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