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.

WhoSorryNow

Women are increasingly choosing not to have babies

Yes and the government are doing everything to ensure the trend continues. No child benefit for 3rd children, access to IVF a lottery, minimum wage not able to cover minimum expenses, rents unaffordably high, house prices out of reach of many people, good schools in unaffordable areas, long waiting lists for half-way decent schools, university fees amongst the highest in the world. Maintenance loans stopped. Parents forced to supplement children at uni more than they did. I sometimes think it must be a conspiracy to actively stop British people from having children.

If you're a young woman trying to get it all sorted you will find that you've managed it only in your mid-thirties, and while some women are fortunate, others are not by that time.

The government has supplemented for growth with a casual immigration policy. Then wonders why there are issues. Family has not been at the heart of economic policy for a while now, plus women do want more. And why not!

Another issue is the quality of schooling and training in the UK.

One thing that really pees me off is the constant 'we need immigrants to work in the NHS, we need more doctors, nurses from abroad etc,' whilst simultaneously withdrawing grants for UK born residents to train in virtually every area of NHS occupations.

Same with engineering. I think the curriculum needs overhauling if you find you have a huge deficit every year in people able to take up those positions. Why are people in the UK being overlooked like this?.

A better educated, higher skilled, home grown workforce would surely have a good knock on effect in terms of reducing the carbon emmissiins associated with mass migration in both directions.

Support for local farming is another issue. The less food we import in the better for the environment.

@Catherine I agree with all of your post, the thinking seems to be that we can import people cheaply rather than investing in our own people

A better educated higher skilled home grown workforce .....would be much more difficult to control and manipulate by those in power

would be much more difficult to control and manipulate by those in power

Agree.

I don't like flying, and when I don't have to do it, I don't.

The decline in population is huge. More than 400,000 last year

Japan has a beautiful countryside. It’s a shame that they can’t make it a more attractive place to live, work and raise a family, but just like everywhere else, people are voting with their feet to urban centers. I am one of those so really can’t talk

I don't fly often.

2 short haul and back and one long haul and back in the last 7 years.

But we each individually sacrifice what we can with the information we have.

Yes someone may be able to not fly to see their family but they may have a miserable existence. It doesn't make sense to be miserable to potentially stop my great grandchildren being miserable.

I'll also be honest it's unlikely to be in my children's lifetime. Therefore any generation it happens to I would never have met. I'm not sanctimonious enough to claim I want to save future people I've never met.

Because I'll be dead and as such, will not know nor care what's happening.

Think it might piss a few pilots off!! ✈️

@ Catherine I agree, even on mumsnet women being told they should only have a max of 1 child to save the planet but you can’t question immigration or your racist. How does that work? surely even if you have one child to save the planet but your country has mass immigration one cancels the other out?

We fly short haul 2/3 times a year.

When I’m at home, I walk or cycle as much as possible and my diet is pescatarian. I look at food miles and try to eat as seasonally as possible, growing some of my food myself.

We wear jumpers in the house rather than turning the heating on/up too.

I think if we all make a few adjustments and if travel is your thing, cut your carbon footprint in other ways, it’s better than telling people not to fly, but then them making every short journey by car and eating food grown on the other side of the world.

I'll also be honest it's unlikely to be in my children's lifetime. Therefore any generation it happens to I would never have met. I'm not sanctimonious enough to claim I want to save future people I've never met.

It will definitely happen during your children't lifetime.
www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/

I'm sure they will be proud of you.

Because I'll be dead and as such, will not know nor care what's happening.

Ah well at least I won't know their disappointment.

I think our carbon footprint is no larger than most.

We recycle (though I am pissed off at the list of things you can put in the bins as they seem very limited). We also don't drive. We have 2 DC. We hope as the kids get older to UK holiday once a year and holiday abroad every 2/3rd year.

If in mainland Europe we will hopefully go on the train or if France or Ireland, go on the ferry.

I just think I can't completely stop doing everything that gives me joy. Like a PP said if every person did 10% more in their own way, it would really make a difference.

I agree that if everyone made some changes it would make a difference, but I don't think just '10% more' is enough at this late/critical stage.

I don't get it either Gin96

I agree perhaps 25% is more realistic.

That would at least bring the predictions of global temperature increase of 2 celcius to 1.5 celcius.

I hope we come up with innovative and carbon free/low alternatives to many of the contributors of climate change.

DH is a pilot so I hope we don't all give up flying!

Nope. I am making changes for the environment. I walk whenever and wherever possible, I dont use excess anything. I am as package free as I can be.

I spent my life until I was 26 never having left the country, I am sorry, but my child can have the one holiday we save for each year, all year.

Honestly I believe that businesses are much of the problem though

Planning an epic trip interrailing with kids. Greener and also more exciting

Oooh where are you going MsTSwift?

Japan is a major cause of the planet being fucked.

My morning pick-me-up today is two donuts, individually wrapped in plastic. The clerk shoved in two wet towels, again individually wrapped in plastic, as well. I noticed the bloke in front of me took two pairs of disposable chopsticks with his order. OK, those aren't plastic, but fuck knows how many trees are cut down to make the staggering amount than Japan goes through every year.

It rained all day yesterday, so anyone who entered a department store will have taken an umbrella condom. That's a long, thin, plastic bag which the stores hand out to stop people's umbrellas dripping.

On the plus, they are quite good at recycling bottles and cartons.

Would you rather have:

a) a habitable planet

or

b) annual return flights to Majorca and New York for your whole family?

The votes have been counted and MNers have selected .......... b! So has the rest of the western world!

We’re fecked aren’t we? At least the planet will be better off without us.

Japan is a major cause of the planet being fucked

Japan was actually doing great in terms of carbon emissions until they shut down all those nuclear reactors after Fukushima. To fill the energy gap, they had to use fossil fuels instead of carbon-neutral nuclear power.

After all, they don’t use central heating (even though it makes their homes so cold in the winter) and they have pretty robust public transport systems. Also, they are not averse to cycling as a culture (none of that school pick up nonsense over there as the kids all cycle to school)

None of that matters, however, when they shut down the majority of their nuclear power plants, however. Obvs their carbon footprint got massive with newly imported fossil fuels they needed.

They heat and cool their houses with heaters and airconditioners - they don't just suffer in the heat / cold.

I was referring more to the problem of plastic rather than power plants. That said, I'd be interested to see how many internal flights ferry how many passengers take place, as I've long suspected that politicians took bribes from contruction companies to hand out contracts for regional airports.

@AhHereItGoes, I'm in my 50s and I think big changes, environmentally speaking, are coming in my own lifetime, never mind my children's.

We all need to stop flying if we want to live longer than 30 years. If we want our children to live longer than 30 years.

Clearly we don't care enough about that because of our behaviour.

We are what we DO.

So we will all; because of ennui, because of apathy, because of free will, because of capitalism - choose death.

Game over boys! (women)

And just to be clear - this is not my 'belief' - this is our collective knowledge as a species. All the smart people, all the people who pay others to be smart for them - they KNOW this.
There is money, advantage, land to be gained in the mass disinformation surrounding this -all of which is on this thread. 'They' don't care if we all die - 'they' have other options.

It's just over .