Just back from a glorious day on the beach with Hubster. The stunning beauty of some sections of the UK coastline can rival many of those found around the world.
There are just two teeny tiny problems; the weather is often not warm enough for a dip and, even if it is, we now have to check how clean the water is as there might be a sewage outlet nearby. No one wants to swim in cold poo, not even our mutt, Mabel. On a bright note, staying near home is far better for the environment than taking a trip by plane.
Suitcases packed
In the late 1970s, when I was a child, flying overseas for a fortnight of sun still seemed unusual but with grandparents living on different continents and a father who loved the warmth of the Mediterranean we flew abroad most summers. For the young Melody this was exciting and quite different to most of her friends who were still going on vacation to resorts such as Margate, Blackpool or, if you were posh, St Ives. Nowadays this is just not the case. From the peeling skin and tan lines on many of my pupils after every break, I’d estimate that many UK families fly at least once a year and some even have 3 or 4 trips to foreign lands. Some people often seem to have their passports and suitcases at the ready for a cheeky little getaway.
Package holidays really started in 1957 when British European Airways introduced a route to Valencia in Spain; the term ‘Costa Blanca’ was created to promote the destination. In 2018, shortly before the pandemic, there were 126.2 million British passengers totalling 8.6% of all people on flights, more than any other nationality. In 2023 globally there were 33 million passenger flights worldwide which is back up to pre-COVID levels. The increase in air travel is a concern as flying is one of the most carbon-intensive activities. Despite this it contributes to just 2.5% of global carbon emissions. This is because over 80% of the world’s population never gets on a plane but they’re the ones most impacted by the climate crisis. In Mexico, India and countries across Africa climate change induced heatwaves and drought are already causing serious issues including increased mortality rates. Every gram of additional carbon emissions just exacerbates the problem.
Flight or fight?
Anyway, I’m in a quandary. In the staffroom there is much talk of holidays. Mrs F, the History teacher, has taken 4 flights already this year. Last month, in the wettest May on record for the UK, she stated she was desperate for a couple of days of sunshine and flew out to Mallorca for 48 hours, getting back on the Sunday night and came into work looking a bit worse for wear on the Monday morning. It might sound expensive, but she was gloating that the return flights were less than £100 and far cheaper than going to London for a weekend. Last summer the very same Mrs F had a week in Greece but complained she had to stay inside during the day as temperatures were over 40⁰C and at night as the smoke from the wildfires made breathing difficult. A small case of cognitive dissonance methinks!
Now I could pick a fight and say that Mrs F is a big part of the problem, but we simply can’t rely on individual actions to make the changes we need. Maybe it needs to come down to policy makers to limit the number of flights people can take.
Time to jettison private jets?
In total, flying in a private jet to attend the 11 Eras Tour shows for February alone made Taylor Swift responsible for emitting a total of 393 Mt of CO2. Now I know she’s been incredibly generous with food bank donations, but Swifties might be a little disgruntled at the climate impact of her private jet. There were a record 5.3 million private jet flights in 2022 and these are increasing year on year. A 2021 report from the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that private jets are five to 14 times more polluting per passenger than commercial flights. In just one hour, a single private jet can emit two tonnes of CO2, yet the global average energy-related carbon footprint is around 4.7 tonnes of CO2 per person per year.
Simply taxing air travel would still allow the top 1% to fly but would price out lesser mortals who just want a bit of a break. In the name of equity, would it be better to say everyone gets a flight budget of a short haul per year – you can save up for a long haul or sell your flight credits to someone who wants them. At the rate we’re going, climate change may result in the end of the traditional Mediterranean package. By 2030 places such as Mallorca may just be too hot for several months of the year. Uncomfortable weather is already leading to an increase in ‘shoulder season’ travel in the spring and autumn rather than the height of summer. Tourists dying from heat exhaustion is not a great advert for any destination.
Flight Free Conundrum
I burned my airmiles budget over the past decades and, a few years ago, declared myself #FlightFree. It’s a blessing. Money saved, no queues, no turbulent flights (either through drunken behaviour or unpredictable weather). Although other more sustainable forms of transport are available, I haven’t even gone to Europe by boat or train. It might sound a bit Zen, but I simply enjoy where I am.
However, I’m not sure my aura is picked by my pupils. When studying the combustion of carbon fuels yesterday we talked about the production of carbon dioxide and how this greenhouse gas leads to global heating and then to climate change. The Year 8s created a storyboard to demonstrate that they understand the connections. At the end of the lesson, we did a line up – one end of the classroom represents ‘I intend to go flight free’, the other that ‘I will continue to fly as much as I can’. I let the pupils decide where on the line they would place themselves. I was more than a little disappointed that only one child, Pupil E, was at the flight free end. The vast majority were in the other half of the room and a scary proportion squashed up against the ‘fly as much as I can’ end of the classroom. We had a quick plenary discussion on climate impacts, and I then gave Pupil E several merit stickers just before the bell went for lunch. As I said earlier, we simply can’t rely on individual actions, unfortunately people will need to be cajoled into making climate sensible choices through system change.
Note to self: Remember to patch the hole in the tent before we use it again. Staycations are heaps of fun but camping in wet weather is the pits. Although Mabel and Hubster act like staying in a tent is heaven on earth I’m far too old to be messing around with soggy toilet paper and a wet sleeping bag at 3am.
