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.

if we all agree that 'something needs to be done' before we wreck the planet then we really do need to start coming up with some concrete suggestions

There are a LOT of selfish dicks on this thread. I am vegan and have no children and STILL feel hugely guilty about the amount of flying I do (a lot of it is for work and I don't mean meetings etc) It is not a case of "I recycle so I am doing my bit" We ALL need to think about alternatives to the way we are living now and do everything we can as individuals.
The main difference will be governments though. We need to be banning plastics. Making carbon offsetting mandatory. Refusing to engage with countries who are not building their capacity for renewable energy. Make non flying public transport super cheap and available. The government need to grow a pair and make some massive changes (and I include the bloody useless government in the country I now live in who seem to think a bit of extra cash in their pocket and keeping their cronies on side is worth destroying the country/planet for)

I do honestly believe that planting is the way to go here. It's the easiest thing unlike giving something up. Lots of the climate change is due to deforestation.
There are so many options!
Flat with no balcony? If you have accesable outside windowsill, put a planter in there. If you can't, have plants inside at least. They also filter indoor air.
Small balcony? Small pots or hanging "living wall". Small yard? Planters.
Etc.
It doesn't even have to be expensive. Poundland has plenty and you can buy stuff on sale elsewhere too.
By making our cities greener, we can cool them down, filtrate the air and that's not only good for us, but also REALLY good for the environment. And it looks pretty!
It's not giving something up so it's suitable for absolute majority of people.

Nope
We have family all over yhe world
We are climate conscious on other ways
I now fly 50% less for work than before using Skype. It’s crap and doesn’t get the job done
Things need to change- but that isn’t the main issue right now

Just an FYI. Calling people selfish and dicks is not really going make them agree with you all using these🤷‍♀️ If anything the opposite.

DS's father mostly lives and works abroad

So yes to accommodate you and your deluded version of the world shall I ask DS to rescind contact with his dad?

Do you drive a car OP?
Use a mobile phone?
Laptop?
Eat any kind of food?
Wear any kind of clothing?

Fuck off

It's like whiny puritan idiot bingo on here. Ooh, look at me, I'm a vegan... and it's OK that my quinoa and chia pudding and avocados get to me by plane, and that the fashion for these foods in the West mean that the people who used to consider them basic staples can't afford them, because eating meat is a sin.
I only fly for business purposes, but those awful working classes should immediately stop going on foreign holidays. And people shouldn't have families in other countries - if they are not from here they should go back home straight away. By cargo boat and on foot.

Waa, baaaw, everyone's a terrible sinner and everyone must make immediate, performative sacrifices. It's no good putting the responsibility on corporations while you still go shopping... even though the problem with billionaires and big corporations is that they are actively opposing renewable energy on the grounds that it's less profitable...

My career was in the Aviation industry before my disabilities took over and I can tell you you're talking utter rubbish! Flying is becoming more & more environmentally friendly as newer, innovative more efficient aircraft are built. It's a stable, growth industry that is not only improving but increasing all the time. You need to let it go and get rid of this paranoia!

It is also the most efficient form of transportation. Each airliner carries from 18 - 500 passengers. 500 cars create a hell of a lot more pollution & damage to the planet than one aircraft!!!

theaverage

so you combine stuff...great...but skype would be fabulously better.

As for funerals? Why would anyone travel half the way around the world to NOT be able to see someone? That makes so little sense to me I can't even begin to argue the case.

traveller absolutely. People do not NEED kids, they WANT kids. We do indeed need people to have fewer children.

Four days to drive to the east coast of Canada and then goodness knows how long on a boat. That trip, each way, would eat into an awful lot of a 14 day vacation to see family in the U.K. How long would it take for people further afield?

I don't drive, do everthing by public transport but need to fly as my whole family lives abroad....

Why do people think the only way to stay in touch with family is to fly to where they are?

Here's an idea...why not live in the same country as your family if you WANT to see them so very much? Let me guess...you don't WANT to move, you don't WANT to have to change job, you don't WANT any minor inconvenience in your life...and fuck the planet.

Its all about choices....we all have the choices to live our lives in a way that might MIGHT not see future generation living on a dying planet and cursing us for destroying their lives....but we aren't going to make those choices, because we are outrageously entitled and selfish.

As for funerals? Why would anyone travel half the way around the world to NOT be able to see someone? That makes so little sense to me I can't even begin to argue the case.

Seriously? You cannot imagine that people might need the comfort and support of close family members after losing a loved one? Or that it might be important to them to fulfil certain cultural/religious expectations in relation to the deceased? You seem to have a very limited imagination.

My DH decided not to attend his mother's funeral, as he had only just flown back from a visit several days earlier. He feels incredibly guilty now about the fact that he wasn't there, and he will probably regret it for the rest of his life.

mummy the thing is that comparing different methods of moving 500 people 5000 miles is missing the crushingly obvious point that NONE OF THEM NEED TO TRAVEL AT ALL.

I don't care which of 15 shitty options is least or most damaging...we need to get to a place were we don't do unnecessary travel in the first place.

This reminds me of all the 'which plastic packaging is environmentally better for my single use container that has an active use time of under 3 minutes getting my lunch from the canteen to the desk' debate that happens regularly in my office. Take a fucking plate you twats.

alexa oh I can imagine that people think its more important to say goodbye to dead people than to preserve the planet for future generations...I just think they are utterly utterly wrong about that.

As I said before, if you want to be around your family that much and need contact with them so desperately then go live in the same country as them.

I mean I can just hear them now "well yes, it looks like retirement is out and I'll be dying searching for food in this mile high trash heap in what remains of our civilisation...but at least I got to say goodbye to gran 50 years ago...so its all worth it!"

Here's an idea...why not live in the same country as your family if you WANT to see them so very much? Let me guess...you don't WANT to move, you don't WANT to have to change job, you don't WANT any minor inconvenience in your life...and fuck the planet.

Oh M3lon you are making me laugh

There are many reasons people live in different countries, wind your neck in !!!

It depends on the individuals circumstances, an exs career involved frequent travel so we would often be flying to a different country every few days for 2-3 months at a time.

I don't mind them living in different countries...I have family in a different country myself. Just don't destroy the planet physically visiting them!

My career is taking a huge hit because I won't do what everyone else does and jet about the place for no material benefit.

I don't give a shit. Not destroying the planet is worth more than anything else right now.

As I said before, if you want to be around your family that much and need contact with them so desperately then go live in the same country as them.

Oh do fuck off M3lon. I am fortunate enough to live in walking distance of my family, but my dh lives on a different continent from his. We cannot both live near our families while continuing to live together. Are you suggesting that people should never marry someone from a different country? Or that, if someone marries a foreigner, they should just accept that they are sacrificing the right to ever see their family again?

Unless you are genuinely able to come on here and tell me that your own lifestyle has no negative impact on the planet whatsoever, that you have sacrificed everything that was important to you for the sake of future generations - who won't be related to you of course, as I presume that you have refrained from having any children - then your opinions about what other people should or shouldn't give up for the sake of the planet are worthless.

alexa Do you think you future generations will be in a position to marry people who live in other countries? They certainly won't if we keep going the way we are. Why does your right to marry someone and visit his family trump their right to live on a life sustaining planet, let alone dream of the lifestyle you take for granted?

Again, marry who the hell you want, but don't then whinge about NEEDING to visit family being more important than leaving future generations somewhere liveable to exist....it isn't.

No!

Because I'd never see my family...

I don't wish to holiday in the UK... weather is shitty enough already...

I need vitamin D to survive in this country and I get plenty when I visit home...

Also how about you lobby the government to actually recycle instead of dumping it in Malaysia 😐 that might help...

Unless you are genuinely able to come on here and tell me that your own lifestyle has no negative impact on the planet whatsoever, that you have sacrificed everything that was important to you for the sake of future generations - who won't be related to you of course, as I presume that you have refrained from having any children - then your opinions about what other people should or shouldn't give up for the sake of the planet are worthless

I don’t agree. We all leave a footprint on the planet, but some of us more than others. I believe climate change is real and will be catastrophic for future generations so all of us need to assess our lives and see where we can make more effort to be greener. Saying unless someone is perfect in this regard they have no right to comment doesn’t make any sense to me. They have no right to preach, but they do have a right to an opinion about if people are irresponsibly using shared resources in the context of a global environmental crisis.

For lots of people not flying at all isn’t realistic, and of course people will fly to funerals if they can. But reducing flying should be realistic for a lot of us, as is reducing waste, buying more locally, buying from more environmentally friendly companies etc.

And just buy less. Every item of clothing, every toy, every bit of furniture - all has a carbon footprint, all uses the earth’s limited resources. A lot of people just don’t think about where stuff comes from.