Who needs a Green Passport?
Spurred on by the prediction that in 2020 there will be over 1.6 billion tourists, the UN have just launched a new eco travel website called ‘Green Passport’. The site aims to raise awareness about the implications of travel on global issues, focusing on climate change.
Great, but the site still assumes that the majority of people will be jetting off by plane for their break – a trend that is unsustainable given the current increase in air travel. At the moment air travel accounts for just over 3.5 percent of total CO2 emissions worldwide, which doesn’t sound that much until you consider that the IPCC estimates that by 2050 it will up to 15 percent (source). Not surprising when you consider that a family of four flying to the USA cause more emissions than their entire domestic energy use in a year!
The damage caused by flying is not just the resulting GHG emissions – the noise pollution of all those jet engines taking off is pretty horrific too. Just ask anyone who lives under the flight path at Heathrow! BA’s new flight 26 from Hong Kong is the first of 15 proposed flights legally scheduled to land before 6am. According to The Guardian’s Leo Hickman the new flight’s 5 am arrival could disturb the sleep of up to 2 million Londoners. If you think that’s bad, things are far worse in Paris where up to 150 flights per night are allowed to land at the Charles De Gaulle airport.
Far better to ditch plane travel altogether! Why bother wasting time cuing at Heathrow when you can hop on your bike and explore your local area? Sawday’s ‘Go Slow England’ is a fantastic guide to special places to visit around England with an emphasis on ‘good food, artisan producers, craftsmanship, community, landscape and history’.
If you still feel the need to cross the channel go by ferry or take a train, The man in seat 61 is a good place to start if you’re looking for advice on slow travel.
If you need a bit more inspiration to travel slow check out these blogs: a woman who went cross-country to Australia for a wedding. A round the world trip without flying and a man who cycled to china and back for the hell of it!
Bethan
