To ask you to stop flying

[Walkingthere]

We are facing a climate disaster. Our children will have to live through it. And yet I overheard two women today discussing how many holidays abroad they had been on this year. Both over 60 years of age. Obviously it will not directly impact on them.
This is also very common in my social group, people jetting off 4-5 times a year. Mini-breaks, weekends away, European trips, long haul, hen do's, weddings, birthdays. It's unbelievable how much people are burying their heads in the sand.

We need to stop flying. Urgently. Now. My family have not flown in over 5 years. We used to travel a lot, before we realised the consequences. I am putting this here, to make people think, we all need to urgently reduce (ideally stop) flying now.

Empty planes won't take off though.

Is this wilful ignorance?

While I agree it all feels so futile and pointless while business flyers do several flights a month and corporations don’t seem to give a damn, I do believe that still doing something is better than nothing.

We live on the west coast of America so we fly to the U.K. once a year. Last year we took mutations flights because first my MIL was gravely sick and then she died, we had to take several last minute flights and also did our normal summer holiday. I feel an inordinate amount of guilt about the amount I flew last year. For us, we love to travel and I really thought I’d get to see the world but a big part of me feels like we should move back to the U.K. and just see Europe by train instead.

We are trying to make other changes, I’m now vegan and my family are mainly plant based. We’re lucky that in California all our fruit and veg comes from a 50-100mile radius and is plentiful all year round. We do have two cars - we’re getting rid of one next month and then once we’ve saved up a bit more we’re selling the other one and buying an electric car. I don’t want a third child anyway but frankly the environment is a good reason enough not to have one (I also feel incredibly guilty towards and because of my current children)

It beggars believe though that when WE were children we were taught about recycling, reusing, not wasting water, turning lights off and not flying too much - and yet it doesn’t seem to have made any difference. I live in a perpetual state of doom and terror about it frankly

My action in not getting a flight isn't going to influence the god knows how many who people get flights all over the world every day. I’m simply not that important.

darkclouds We need to cut the population growth to one child per couple and cull the old people over the age of 35 now. This will have to be done under a labour dictatorship. Since when was 35+ 'old'? You have provided me with yet another reason to never, ever vote Labour (unless Corbyn, Abbott and Laydee Nugee are to be culled?).

My action in not getting a flight isn't going to influence the god knows how many who people get flights all over the world every day. I’m simply not that important.

Okay, and again, it's the concept of "no single raindrop ever feels responsible for the flood." The "god knows how many people flying every day" are all also individuals who have a choice, just like you, to cut down.

If everyone had your defeatist attitude, we'd never get anywhere.

@TheAverageJuror you’ve inspired me to look at clover lawns! Not at all green fingered though sadly - I’ve even killed a lucky bamboo plant!

Yes, I think it’s important to also take regular positive proactive everyday actions that help rather than giving absolutely everything up, even though I’ve done my fair bit of that too.

I'm not going to fly less, this is the most independent I've ever been, it's taken me years to get here and I'm not stopping now! I go to Europe by coach when feasible but most of the time I will fly.

Eleanoe0alike I'm not saying I oppose emigration but it seems to account for a lot of air travel.
As a op said Until we go back to whole families living and working locally, many people will travel regularly to visit family.
It's not an opinion, it's reality

I fly for a living. Shall I give up my job? Aware of the disaster but flying is nothing compared to China. YABU.

I mean, I hardly ever fly anywhere so it makes no difference to me.

My point is, one person not getting a flight isn’t going to make anyone else think that they will also not get flights. Even if everyone on this thread, or everyone on bloody Mumsnet never flew again it would make less than fuck all difference. So unless you’re going to somehow change the travel habits of people the world over then yeah, there’s isn’t much point.

Being realistic isn’t the same as being defeatist.

Yeahhhh.... no

@EleanorOalike aw I am glad! I am not really good with plants too when it comes to indoor ones, but somehow outside ones do well.
Clover lawn is great. You can buy seeds really cheap nad let it spread through your lawn. There is also microclover, which is. Well. Micro. It feeds the grass, doesn't need watering (stayed green during last year's draught!), really helps with other weeds and if you let it flower every 2 months you will make local bees VERY happy.
And more you walk on it, thicker it gets IME.
I have the fattest bumblebees😂

Angelo - Yes it will, the more we talk about it and stop doing it the less acceptable it will become. If share holders start asking companies to change their policy because it has become so un PC. Then things will change.

Oh and by the way I think I win the over populating children thing, not only haven't I had any but I have also brought up my two step children and have adopted 2 children so have done my bit to help/look after children who are already here!!

Who on earth do you think you are? We go abroad once every 2 or 3 years for a well earned holiday and I’m not about to stop because sone sanctimonious individual on an online forum tells me to.

Jog on.

Nope. I won't stop flying. I don't fly more than once a year in fairness, but I won't stop. I want to show my children other countries. While I do look after and care for my environment, I don't think humans should need to go back to the dark ages. We have to live.

No chance. I only get to see the better half twice a month when I fly home. This year We have been averaging between us five flights a month to see each other, whilst for the better half’s work it tends to be another twenty four flights per quarter if they are all direct, but sometimes much more if connections are required. I think the record was 14 in a week.

To stop flying would mean no work for the better half and not seeing each other.

@OldUnit actually, empty planes WILL take off, as until someone invents a teleport there's no other way to get them back to where they need to be, and if they have passengers to pick up at the other end, then they kind of have to fly to get there...

There aren't spare planes just sitting around airports. A plane will take passengers from A to B, then B to C, then D to E, but if there's no passengers going from C to D it still has to fly there.

It's the same reason you see empty buses and trains not in service but still running. Simple logistics and not wilful ignorance at all.

On a positive note...

The OP's pushed off to somewhere that there's no access to the internet.
No doubt she's foraging for food for her two (?) children.
Excellent work.

Well im currently posting from a villa in portugal so.... no.

Business travel is where things need to be curbed, a friend of ours flys most weeks to do work that could be done remotely

I really can’t decide whether the posters who state a variation of “the plane is taking off with or without me” are utterly stupid or blindly selfish!

I guess wiping out the human race will have some benefits! If everyone reading the thread did the following we would make quite a big impact

1 take no more than one flight this year
2 walk or cycle journeys less than 3’miles

1. Do not have any more kids
2. Go vegan at least 3days per week
3. Only buy 2 items of clothing every 2months
4. Take your own coffee cup/water bottle out with you
5. Never let the temp in your home exceed 19c whilst you have the heating on

OK.
I’ve not been on a plane since the 70s, neither has OH.

We stopped flying over 20 years ago. I think people who jet off on multiple holidays a year are incredibly selfish and really unintelligent. It makes me wonder why they think their holiday is more important than the planet we live on. Absolutely baffling.

I really can’t decide whether the posters who state a variation of “the plane is taking off with or without me” are utterly stupid or blindly selfish!

I’m neither, but thanks for the sanctimonious judgement. We can’t all be paragons of virtue such as you seem to be.

As I said, I rarely fly so it makes no difference to me.