John Rowley/Getty Images
READ MORE ABOUT:
The list of things you can do to reduce your negative impact on nature is very long (that's what Planet Green and TreeHugger are all about), but certain things are easier to do than others and can have just as big an impact as some of the harder things.
One good example of this is the comparison between one cross-country flight and going vegetarian or vegan for a year. It might seem like it would be harder (at least for someone who's not already veggie) to become a vegetarian or vegan than it would be to skip that flight, yet if we look at the numbers (from a purely CO2 emission point-of-view, but remember that this is only one aspect), both are pretty similar.
Flying vs Eating
If you take a return flight from New York (JFK airport) to Los Angeles (LAX) in economy class (first class has higher emissions on average, since fewer people fit in a plane when there's a first class) and you count radiative forcing, the average amount of CO2 that you'll emit is around 4,200 lbs (if you go first class, this would be around 10,000 lbs of CO2!).
It's hard to calculate exactly how big a reduction in CO2 emissions going vegetarian or vegan for a year would produce, because it depends on what you would eat otherwise, where you live, where the food comes from, etc, but the generally accepted estimate is about 1 ton (2,000 lbs) of CO2 per year for a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and 2 tons (4,000 lbs) for a vegan.
So based on those numbers (only approximations, remember—real-world numbers might be lower, but they might be higher), you'd have to go vegetarian for two years to offset a NYC to LA flight, or vegan for a year. And if you fly first class, you just more than doubled it.
The point here is not that you can feel good about not being vegeterian/vegan because you don't fly much. We should all try to improve on whatever we're currently doing... But we should also realize that there are some low-hanging fruits. It's pointless to spend tons of energy on things that make a small difference when we could instead start by spending that energy on things that make a big difference.
See Also on Planet Green and TreeHugger:
Are You a Green Globetrotter?
How to Go Green: Spring Break
5 Green Habits That Matter More Than Recycling
Can't Afford a Hybrid?: Reduce Your Carbon Emissions with these Cheaper, Better Investments
-
- {}
