Can air travel ever really be sustainable?

Paul Merrill's article 'Can air travel ever really be sustainable?' in Australian Geographic raises some uncomfortable truths about sustainable travel, including this disturbing fact:

 

"The global tourism industry accounts for 8% of global emissions, more than all the world's construction projects."

 

But there is hope for us keen travellers. And there are tangible actions you can take to make your air travel more sustainable.

 

Here are Paul's top tips on how air passengers can make a difference today:

 

🛫 Fly direct: Take-off and landing are both fuel-guzzling stages of any flight, so limit your stopovers.

 

🌿 Choose your offsets wisely: Investigate a carbon-offset scheme before you hand over your cash. Those investing in renewable energies are more effective than the ones that just plant trees. Unfortunately, the truth about offsets is that planting ever more trees and hoping for the best just isn't a long-term solution. Nevertheless, there are some good offset providers to consider as an alternative to an airline's offset add-on, and in Australia we support Greenfleet.

 

✈️ Find a lower-emissions airline: German climate-protection group Atmosfair publishes indexes of the most fuel-efficient airlines for short- and long-haul flights. In their recent survey of 60 airlines studied Virgin Australia ranked 18th and Qantas 49th... So, for a list of the most sustainable airlines (and why!), check out this post from TheRoundup.org.

 

💺 Go economy: Your emissions are effectively doubled by going business class over economy.

 

🌑 Avoid night flights: When it’s dark, the contrails that aircraft leave behind them contribute twice as much to global warming. Winter trips are also bigger polluters than summer ones.

Safe (and sustainable!) travels from us here at dc&b.

 

Image credit: Getty Images