Over the last few years we´ve been involved in the UK´s growing climate change activist movement and have learnt a lot about anthropocentric (human-based) climate change. We´ve made many significant changes to our lifestyles in an attempt to tread more lightly on our home planet. We hope that by leading by example, we might inspire others to do the same, as every person must play their part if we are to avoid a global catastrophe.
I love to travel, so acknowledging that flying is by far the most environmentally damaging thing a person can do was by no means easy. In fact, I know of many people who call themselves ´green´ who still fly here, there and everywhere, cancelling out any positive gains they make in other lifestyle changes. We in the West just love to fly, and the recent phenomenom of cheap flights means people are flying more than ever. And, many have been fooled into thinking they can consume their way out of the problem by simply buying carbon offets (more on this later). So, we´ve joined an increasing number of people who´ve taken the pledge to give up air travel and must now find alternative means to get around. It took me a little while to get my head around the fact that I would no longer fly. But at the end of the day, I don´t need to fly to have a quality life! And I can no longer justify taking part in something that is destroying other people´s quality of life. During the Heathrow third runway debate there have been many indignant wails of protest along the lines of ¨but it´s my right to fly¨!! Well, try telling that to the people of Bangladesh, whose lives are already being devastated by flooding caused in part by the lifestyles of us in the West. The UN estimates that climate change is already responsible for 150,000 deaths per year. Surely a persons´ right to fly doesnt outweigh a persons´ right to simply live? Put that way, I think its a sacrifice I can live with. Of course, to travel long distances will always incur an environmental cost. The most environmetally sound option is to stay in your home country (unless you can sail/cycle long distances). However, the impact of one´s travels can be reduced significantly by choosing alternative modes of transport-in this case we will piggy-back on the emissions of a cargo ship. Let me explain. The cargo/freighter industry is by no means environmentally sound, in fact, it is a significant contributor to global anthropocentric emissions. However, we decided we could justify this mode of travel on the following grounds:
- The aviation industry works on a supply and demand basis, so by traveling on a cargo ship, we are not adding to the demand in the aviation industry, we are simply freeloading on the emissions of a ship which is already making the journey to deliver goods. As the ships only take a maximum of 6-10 paying passengers, there´s no scope for an increasing demand in cargo ship travel to increase the number of ships on the sea. We are simply 'freeloading' on the back of emission which are already being produced, instead of contributing to a new source of emissions - the aviation industry, currently the fastest-growing source of emissions globally.
- Where there are currently no alternatives to the petrol based kerosene used to fuel air-travel, there are many solutions on the horizon for the shipping industry to clean up it´s act, including technologies such as huge kite sails, and simple changes such as slowing down.
- The aviation industry works on a supply and demand basis, so by traveling on a cargo ship, we are not adding to the demand in the aviation industry, we are simply freeloading on the emissions of a ship which is already making the journey to deliver goods. As the ships only take a maximum of 6-10 paying passengers, there´s no scope for an increasing demand in cargo ship travel to increase the number of ships on the sea. We are simply 'freeloading' on the back of emission which are already being produced, instead of contributing to a new source of emissions - the aviation industry, currently the fastest-growing source of emissions globally.
- Where there are currently no alternatives to the petrol based kerosene used to fuel air-travel, there are many solutions on the horizon for the shipping industry to clean up it´s act, including technologies such as huge kite sails, and simple changes such as slowing down.
-I hope to use this trip to make some noise about climate change, producing climate change awareness education material, and giving presentations on climate change activism where I can, to generate awareness and debate in places where it's full implications have yet to be realized.
Unfortunately for us, cargo ship travel is far more expensive than flying, so we just had to work extra hard to save those pennies. I'm sure it will be worth it. The thought of traveling accross the Atlantic on a ship definately appeals more to me. It's funny how things change so quickly - it wasn't really that long ago since the only option to reach the Americas from Europe was by boat. And now when i tell people of our plans, they look at me like I'm insane. Well, once the aviation indusrty collapses due to a combination of rising oil prices as the global supply dwindles, and increased pressure to reduce it's emissions, maybe we'll see a return to over-land and sea travel. or, maybe we'll all just have to bite the bullet and travel less.
Unfortunately for us, cargo ship travel is far more expensive than flying, so we just had to work extra hard to save those pennies. I'm sure it will be worth it. The thought of traveling accross the Atlantic on a ship definately appeals more to me. It's funny how things change so quickly - it wasn't really that long ago since the only option to reach the Americas from Europe was by boat. And now when i tell people of our plans, they look at me like I'm insane. Well, once the aviation indusrty collapses due to a combination of rising oil prices as the global supply dwindles, and increased pressure to reduce it's emissions, maybe we'll see a return to over-land and sea travel. or, maybe we'll all just have to bite the bullet and travel less.
