To ask you to swerve vacations abroad on airplanes

[Happyone99]

Inspired by https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5433252-to-ask-you-to-swerve-shein-temu?page=24

As mentioned above, I personally don’t use Shein or Temu because they ARE terrible. However, why only change bad things lower income people happen to be involved with, rather than starting with things higher income people are involved with

Slave labour and poor working conditions are indeed terrible. So is the climate crisis, exacerbated by rich people flying on airplanes for vacations, and poor people in low-lying countries like Bangladesh suffer worst environmental consequences

Who are responsible for the most emissions and who are suffering the most?

We should tax kerosene. That'll particularly hit the users of private jets.

@Happyone99

No. Soz, OP.

you only get one life, and I’m not going to spend it all in the Uk. You’re trying to make the wrong people feel guilty here.

We fly abroad on holiday about once a year on average. I do feel guilty about it, but then again I have colleagues who seem to be constantly jetting off for short breaks, and it seems a bit silly to feel guilty about one return flight a year. A friend who used to fly a lot for work gave up eating meat in order to offset a little. I think we can all be mindful and play our part, but as others have said, it’s all a drop in the ocean compared to China and everything. Depressing really.

YANBU in one sense OP, we should all try to do our bit and be educated about climate change, but it shouldn't JUST be individual responsibility, we need to properly regulate air travel if its contributing to the climate crisis. I think private jets should be banned for recreational use and only be permitted for emergencies or diplomatic reasons. I think companies should be heavily restricted for sending employees on flights if meetings can be done online etc.

But also government has to invest alot more in public transport! I think alot of people would happily take a train to Europe for their holidays if they were reliable, fast and cheap, I went on the Shinkansen during my honeymoon and it was an incredible experience. But I'm from up North and to get a train to Europe for my young family is a logistical and financial nightmare. We only maybe go on one short haul holiday a year.

The thing is people start squirming if you suggest maybe we need to get a government in that will actually take climate change as seriously as it actually is because God forbid companies pay more tax, energy, water and transport get nationalised or major polluting industries face more red tape. Asking people to holiday less is putting a sticking plaster on a gaping gushing arterial neck wound and no amount of holidays in Wales and Cornwall will compensate for a government like Reform getting in who intend to create a bonfire of net zero policy and Green initiatives...

How many children do you have OP?

The UK is not in the top 5 polluting countries in the world, and while I do try and limit my carbon footprint, if and when I get the opportunity to fly somewhere (once every five years or so) then I'm taking it.

I'm sorry, I refuse to be made to feel guilty about this.

We have two cars as where we live it would be hard for us to get to work. Plus we live in a bushfire zone and sometimes have to evacuate. If only one of us is home, the other couldnt exactly do that with two animals on foot.

We fly once a year for our holiday, except for last year when I had to fly from Australia to the UK as my Dad was seriously unwell.

We run our air con because on the hot days, a ceiling fan wont cut it when it's 40 degrees like it was yesterday.

I do like to get second hand clothes when I can and never leave things like my TV or computer on standbye as Ive heard that uses quite a bit of power.

I guess even doing small things is better than nothing.

But if my family need me in the UK, then I will go. And if we can afford to go overseas from Perth, it has to be a plane. 🫤

Why is it always people from our relatively small island who are asked to make the changes for the WORLD to benefit.

We’re a drop in the ocean regarding environmental change. But people still pile on the guilt.

Get thee over to China OP and start on that lot.

I’ve calculated it via train. 23 hours. Plus the nearest train station to the in laws house is 130 miles away.
You enjoy it. I can guarantee you that my severely autistic 7 year old wouldn’t.

No. Take your passive aggressive guff somewhere else
We don't drive, use public transport, don't use Shein or Temu, recycle, reuse and mainly cook from scratch with seasonal ingredients. Never have takeaways from preference.
I'm 70 and most people my age were brought up to do this.
My husband has a life limiting condition and our short haul holiday to Italy once a year keeps him (and me) going through our long miserable winter.

So go and protest in and about the countries that are really causing the damage.
We aren't one of them.

Pre Covid, my husband used to fly
loads for work. Short and long haul, probably 10 times a year. Now it’s less than half of that.

But we will continue to fly for holidays. Off to the Caribbean in a few days, a destination wedding a 10 hour flight away in September, plus we’ll have a few shorter breaks in Europe. Have no intention of changing this.

I don't think you'll find much traction for a no fly holiday on this site. Principles have limits. And this will be a step too far. I look forward to all the excuses though.

You are absolutely right, but unfortunately people are so used to flying that they just see it as normal, and not something that needs to change. People really do like hating on people buying cheap clothing - because they're struggling - while they're jetting off and not thinking twice about the damage THAT causes.

I agree it shouldn't be solely the individuals responsibility, but the reason we are not in the top 5 polluting countries in the world is because we've outsourced our manufacturing to other countries. So we should really count any manufacturing done on our behalf as our pollution. But again that requires government policy to regulate that.

That's fine, sometimes people genuinely have to fly.

Yes, we should also be working to reduce car use.

It's the low hanging fruit we need to target: Short haul (especially domestic) flights. Private jets. Inessential business trips.

And tax aviation fuel. And stop any new airport expansion.

Jfc. 74% of the sociopaths on this site think you’re unreasonable for even asking.
to those who find this an outrageous request, what kind of parents do you really think you are, when you can’t be asked to make such a tiny sacrifice for your own children’s future?

No, clearly I am saying that if I personally don't get on a flight it will make no difference. If lots of people stopped flying then obviously the number of flights would decrease. I'm not sure this thread is going to significantly decrease the demand for flights though. I also wonder how the impact of hundreds of us driving to our holiday destinations instead of flying would compare.

So many countries/towns etc are kept going by tourists. If people decided they didn’t want to use a plane and also don’t want to take a very long trip a different way then some places would collapse. As guests in other countries we contribute to their economy.

I'm a frequent flyer for work. We so as much as we can via teams - but there are simply some things that need you to be face to face. The more global companies become, the more that will entail flights for those face to face meetings to happen.

oh yes, OP, you are so so so much better than all the rest of us put together.

I bow to your right-on-ness.

YABU

Why do you have to stay in the UK if you don't fly?? Breaking news- they built a massive tunnel under the sea to France 😆

To say nothing of ferries.

Can't afford it, but even if I could then my average of one flight every ten years would certainly not bother me adding a few more. The 1% country worrying about saving the world while American cars are the size of our houses, Russia is constantly blowing things up, Chinese factories turn the sky black and data centres across the world are grilling entire regions to produce a few pictures of children in bikinis makes about as much sense as living in a cow shed and holding in your farts to stop it getting smelly.

I'm absolutely petrified of flying so I try and holiday by train in Europe or UK as much as possible.

I'd love to go back to Türkiye one day but I think I'll wait until I'm driving and spend a few months out there. Although I'm wondering what my carbon footprint driving that far would be, compared to a seat on a flight.

Now, please could you stop using your device and the internet because the carbon footprint of your gadgets, the internet and the systems supporting them account for more than 4% of global greenhouse emissions. An amount that is higher than that produced by the airline industry globally and rapidly increasing year on year.

The UK is responsible for about 1% of the problem of Global Warming, - If there is a problem.
The earths core is warming and the earth has been on a trajectory taking it closer to the sun and it warmed us up.
The People of Bangladesh who you specifically mentioned are suffering more from the pollution from coal fired power generation and industries throughout China, India and Asia.
So stop guilting us and go back to hypno-boob and dream up other ways to be the centre of attention.
BTW as I type a Skyscanner ad has popped up: Flights to India for £238. Fancy a trip OP?

I hope people realize that it’s a satirical post based on the Shein/Temu one?