We all love flying and aviation and so do I. I love the feeling when I’m above the clouds looking over that white panorama, seeing the sunset, my hometown from above, … Since I was a child, aviation is in my blood.
However, I also know another fact: Climate Change is real. And as of today, flying is not green yet. On a round trip from New York to London, a single passenger in Economy emits approximately 2.1 Tons of Co2 into the atmosphere.
In some situations, flying is essential. You can’t take the train from Zurich to Los Angeles. But on a city trip from Berlin to Frankfurt for example, the train would be a reasonable alternative. The train often needs more time though. And that’s why I often catch myself on short flights as well thinking that I could’ve easily taken the train for that trip.
So I looked for a method of what I can do when I take the plane in such a case. And I found this Website:
MyClimate is a Swiss foundation that allows you to calculate the CO2 you emit when you take the car, take a cruise, go to an event or take the plane. It allows gives you the opportunity to compensate the amount of CO2 you emitted with a donation to a project somewhere around the world that will help to protect the climate and therefore compensate your emitted CO2. Some projects for example are building clean water fountains, reforestation and reconstruction of destroyed environmental sites.
As an example: I flew from Zurich to Nuremberg yesterday and I’ll take a flight back as well. I’ll also fly to the IFC Meet-Up in London and back from Basel. I calculated my emissions (0.599t of CO2) and payed a compensation of CHF 17.- / USD 17.-
That system basically is a volunteering environmental tax on plane tickets some people are calling for.
Now, what is your opinion on that? Do you like this idea? Would you be willing to pay such a compensation? Do you even take short flights anymore?
Looking forward to an interesting discussion!
Marc