Fly less, sit in coach, and avoid gimmicky offsets. Here's how to make your next trip more sustainable, according to experts.
Author: Bianca Giacobone
Like many people living in New York City, I'm not from here. I'm originally from Milan, Italy, and, being a good, committed daughter, I fly back home at least twice a year to visit my family. That's 4 flights, over 16,000 miles, and 5.29 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the online emissions calculator Native. That's more than what a standard gas-based car emits in a year, and a third of what the average American emits in a year, according to MIT Climate Portal. Flying is polluting. Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions — the US accounts for 25% of all global aircraft emissions. Start-ups and engineers are laboring to power planes with batteries and hydrogen. and airlines are adopting newer, more efficient aircraft, but at the moment fully carbon-neutral travel is non-existent. But aside from flying less, or not flying at all — which my mother would frown upon — there are ways to reduce one's impact on the environment while flying. Simple steps like flying direct, flying economy, and picking newer planes can reduce the impact of a specific trip up to 45%, according to Sanchali Pal, founder and CEO of Commons, an app that allows you to track and offset your carbon emissions. 25% of a flight's total emissions happen during takeoff and landing, which is a reason why layovers are discouraged and some airports are adopting optimized profile descents with idle engines. The more people get on an airplane, the more efficient the whole process is, which is why economy is better than business.