How To Minimize Your Environmental Impact While Flying

Traveling might not feel as enjoyable as it once did, thanks to the concerns regarding climate change. Hopping on a plane when its emissions might be doing serious harm to the planet can be hard for some people to stomach. However, we’re here to tell you that this doesn’t mean you need to ditch traveling forever.

Instead, you simply need to familiarize yourself with how to minimize your environmental impact while flying. Once you know how to reduce your emissions, you can find the joy in traveling all over again. Plus, the great thing is that there are tons of ways to do this, so it shouldn’t even require that much effort to help save the planet.

A direct flight is better than a connecting one

Direct flights aren’t always an option. However, if you want to be more environmentally conscious when flying, you’re going to want to avoid any changeovers. That’s because a lot of airplane emissions come from take-off and landing, with NASA estimating somewhere around 25%. If you get a direct flight, you only have one take-off and landing to reach your destination. Therefore, your trip isn’t as harmful to the planet as getting two or three planes would be. Unfortunately, this can be tough to do if your local airport doesn’t fly to many destinations.

Packing less could reduce the amount of emissions your flight produces

Pretty much everyone has been guilty of packing too much in their suitcase at some point in the past. It’s hard not to overestimate how much you’ll need and give in to the temptation to add one last thing. However, it might be easier now that you know your actions could be harming the planet. Apparently, the less that you pack, the fewer emissions your flight will ultimately produce. The UN’s Environment Programme states that a reduction of 33 pounds can reduce emissions by as much as 220 pounds on a four-and-a-half-hour flight. So, while you might feel like those extra clothes are necessary, maybe don’t pack them next time.

Consider flying with a plane that will pollute the planet less than others

Just like with other vehicles, there’s more than one type of plane. That means some will be better for the environment than others. If you want to enjoy flying without worrying about your impact on the planet, you’ll want to pick the plane that pumps out the least amount of pollution. Plenty of airlines are starting to think seriously about the use of biofuels, so more and more planes are starting to go green. To know which ones are worth your money, though, you might want to look at a flight emissions calculator. Atmosfair has one, and it can tell you precisely what impact your journey will have on the Earth.

Traveling in economy class may actually be best for the environment

If you’ve ever felt like you were missing out by traveling in economy class, this may well change your mind. It turns out that people who fly economy class tend to do less damage to the environment than those who travel in business or first class. That’s according to the World Bank, which claims that the space someone occupies on a plane has a larger impact than their weight. They also say that as business and first class seats are more likely to be empty, this increases the passenger footprint. So, the next time you catch a flight, feel proud to be someone who travels in economy class.

You can offset your emissions by funding environmental projects

Regardless of what you do, whenever you fly somewhere, your actions will technically contribute to the pollution of the atmosphere. However, while you can’t prevent this, you can counteract any emissions that you might be responsible for. You can do this by putting money towards an environmental project that aims to neutralize the carbon emissions created by each flight. It won’t actually cost you that much and will help you to have a clear conscience when traveling. Unfortunately, not many airlines offer this when booking a flight with them. However, you can work around this by donating to projects like Gold Standard, Verra, and Climate Action Reserve directly.

Consider staying somewhere on vacation that’s designed to be eco-friendly

The ability to reduce emissions doesn’t end once you step off that plane. Something that might help you to feel better about flying abroad is staying somewhere that’s designed to do right by the planet. More and more eco-friendly resorts are cropping up all over the world. These places are designed to ensure that your actions won’t have any consequences for the Earth, so you can enjoy yourself without any guilt. You can even get actively involved in giving back to the planet as well.

If the thought of flying still doesn’t sit right after all this, you might want to give traveling abroad a miss right now. Hopefully, though, you feel reassured that you can still go overseas without fearing you’ve done too much harm to the planet.