Sustainable Travel in Small Steps: What We Can Do
by Robert McGarvey
Let’s be clear about two facts: (1) our planet is experiencing some kind of climate change that in many locations is producing not simply unpleasant changes but possibly deadly ones; (2) for travelers the reality is that sustainable travel is a fantasy – nice to think about but it isn’t happening in my lifetime.
The only sustainable travel is to not travel and that simply is not viable for many of us.
What should we do given the reality of climate change?
If the Democrats in Washington DC can deliver something of a climate bill – and flawed as it is, it nonetheless is the most important legislation of its kind since the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Clean Water Act of 1972 – we can do something too.
Like what? As I mull my options I don’t see me cancelling my upcoming trip to Portugal/Spain or any of several short business trips on my near-term agenda. Nor do I see myself selling my gasoline powered car and swapping into an electric – electric cars are too pricey, my condo tower doesn’t have chargers, and my car is a 2017 BMW with under 15,000 miles on it (meaning I don’t use it much at all anyway).
But just as the new federal measure will include some significant environmental steps – some $369 billion in tax credits and spending over 10 years for renewable energy – I can take some significant steps too. And I bet I can do it without spending buckets of money either.
I also have no confidence that the travel purveyors – carriers, hotels, DMOs, etc – will do more than the greenwashing lip service they have offered for at least a generation. We have heard it all many times before and it has produced squat.
Governments will actually take steps, that’s so. The US finally has but many in Europe already had. However, over half the globe by land mass has not and will not soon join this parade. Governments such as Germany and Sweden are helpful indeed but much more will be required.
This is where we come in. For my part in aiding the environment here are the steps I will take:
*Fly as little as possible. I used to think nothing of a quick hop to Berlin or Belfast or a same day business trip from LA to San Francisco but nowadays I am rationing my flying because it is a significant source of greenhouse gases. I am not saying my cuts will save the planet but if we all take fewer flights, we could breathe easier.
*Fly in coach or economy plus. OK, I am cheap about airplane seating but now I can justify my seat preference by saying it is better for the environment when more of us are crammed into a plane. Those upfront are eating the proverbial cake.
*Walk as much as possible. Every month Google sends me a breakdown of my travels and a metric that fascinates me is miles in a car vs. miles walked. Most months I walk more than I travel in a car and my goal is to keep it that way. No, I am not going to walk to Los Angeles from Phoenix but I pretty much always walk the 2 miles that take me to downtown. Little walks add up.
*Use public transit instead of Uber. I am lucky. The Phoenix lightrail stops in front my building and it goes quickly to the airport. If it’s too hot outside the lightrail also takes me downtown. Trips I might have used Uber for now are mainly lightrail rides. I suffer little inconvenience and even save a few dollars here and there.
*I really need to start using reusable water bottles. Throwaway plastic ones are just no good for the planet. I know that. And I have the reusable bottles. I just need to remember to use them.
*I am crossing off my bucket list trips that are purely self-indulgent. Yeah, I’d like to see Bhutan or Chengdu or Peru…but other than my idle curiosity what purpose would be served? Too much travel is just pure vanity. I have done my share of those trips. I want to do this no more. Call these trips not taken my gift to the environment.
Add up my actions and will we all celebrate the end of the climate change threat? Of course not. But if we all take little steps that suit us the planet will thank us.
What steps will you start taking? Your steps probably will be different. What matters is taking some steps. As more of us do that that quicker changes will come.