Many of those who love traveling (but also love this planet,) are taking measures to reduce their footprint when flying. If you care about Mother Earth, but also want to visit the beauty of her work, check out these 5 ways that you can travel a little more eco-friendly.
1.) Fly direct
Not only does flying directly to your destination save you a ton of time, but it also helps save the planet. The logic is simple: take-offs and landings create significantly more carbon emissions and burn more fuel than merely cruising through the air. So if you book a nonstop flight with only one take-off and landing, you’re wasting a lot less fuel and creating less of a carbon footprint. If you must book a connecting flight, try to choose one that has a layover in a smaller city. Less congestion at the airport amounts to less idling on the runway or time wasted circling the airport while waiting to land.
2.) Skip the paper
Most airlines don’t require you to have a physically printed boarding pass any longer, so why waste the paper by printing it? You can either download the pass to your phone or pull it up via the airline’s app. If you are worried about connectivity issues, save a screenshot to the home screen of your phone before you head to the airport.
3.) B.Y.O.B (Bring your own bottle)
Bringing your own water bottle keeps your waste to a minimum on your flight, and also throughout your trip by preventing more plastic bottles from clogging our landfills. Just make sure to empty it before heading through security or you’ll lose it. Additionally, if you can spare room in your luggage, bring as much of your own things as you can: snacks, utensils, reusable bags, and containers, etc. so you can cut down on litter even when you aren’t in the air.
4.) Pack light
Every ounce of weight on an airplane squanders fuel, meaning more carbon emissions, so it’s very beneficial to the planet (and your wallet) to pack as lightly as possible.
5.) Choose newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft
Do your research before booking to find the newest flight option. The newer the aircraft, the more fuel-efficient it will be, resulting in less of a carbon footprint per flight. To get the most fuel-efficient aircraft, try finding flights on one of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners or an Airbus A350. You could also use an airline, like Delta or JetBlue, that participates in carbon offset programs. These programs determine the emissions created from your flight and then allow you to pay to conserve trees around the world that will offset those emissions.
