One of the questions asked by this challenge is ‘how easy is it to save a tonne of carbon?’. On one level it is very easy simply by a few key decisions. I can claim to have already saved more than my tonne by not doing what I had been going to do. 1.3 tonnes to be saved in April 07 according to the calculator by not flying to New York
….and a further 1.7 tonnes by chosing train over air for a family trip to Scotland
Easy to ‘save a tonne’ just by really thinking about whether or not, and how to go.
For a couple of years I have been planning a weekend in New York to visit an old school friend. Last November, realizing it wasn’t going to happen before Christmas ’06 we made a plan to meet up the last weekend in April ’07. Almost as soon as the phone was down I started to feel uneasy. A long way, an unnecessary flight, a lot of upheaval… was it right to go?
When she was home for her annual Christmas visit, I told her. It was the right decision but it was still disappointing to have to say, ‘I’m sorry, I feel it’s wrong to fly out,… I worry about my children’s world and I can’t honestly do this’.
George Monbiot calls them ‘love miles’and we always think traveling to see people is good… but the paradigm shifts with climate change and short breaks like this become a very different proposal.
So, 1.3 tonnes ‘saved’ by not flying to New York return.
Another easy ‘tonne saved’ closer to home is a visit to relations in Scotland for Easter. We rarely fly to Scotland as the train service is good, but it is interesting that the decision to train to Edinburgh from Sussex rather than fly gives a carbon ‘saving’ of 0.57 tonnes (600 kg for the glight versus 32 kg for the train), and as I buy the tickets for myself and two children I make that1.71 tonnes saved by not going by air.
No wonder the environmental movement is focusing the spotlight on budget airlines and ‘easy’ low cost flying… the comparative cost to the environment is huge.
However, this kind of carbon saving is ‘easy’ as it’s somewhat hypothetical. The more I think about this one, the key question is not really, how easy is it to save a tonne, but rather how do you reduce your carbon emissions to the 2.5 tonne level?
Rowena Moore
