How do you justify your desire for travel & leisure with going green?

[Anonymous]

So going green is now en vogue. You aren't progressive, open minded, and concious unless you care about the planet. How then do you explain the massive demand then for travel and leisure? Taking a single flight burns nearly as much fossil fuel as you'd emit from an entire year's worth of driving. Then there is so much taxing consumption on the planet for water, land, pollution etc. all related to tourism and travel. The people who constantly talk the most about going green probably do things like buy expensive Teslas and solar panels, yet are the same types who cannot help to show off how much they travel on social media. How can one possibly be progressive on environmental issues and simultaneously travel the world or even far away in this country for the sole purpose of leisure? Makes no sense. Every trip you take burns massive amounts of fossil fuels and causes tons of waste.

[Anonymous]

We live a very frugal, energy-conscious, less-wasteful lifestyle most of the time. We have a tiny, well-insulated house, re-use a lot of stuff, buy second-hand, don't drive much, and try not to consume too much in general. I am selecting makers of electric commercial planes to invest in, and eagerly await the first international commercial flights on electric planes. Our families live in Europe and Asia, so there's no way we can totally avoid air travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So going green is now en vogue. You aren't progressive, open minded, and concious unless you care about the planet. How then do you explain the massive demand then for travel and leisure? Taking a single flight burns nearly as much fossil fuel as you'd emit from an entire year's worth of driving. Then there is so much taxing consumption on the planet for water, land, pollution etc. all related to tourism and travel. The people who constantly talk the most about going green probably do things like buy expensive Teslas and solar panels, yet are the same types who cannot help to show off how much they travel on social media. How can one possibly be progressive on environmental issues and simultaneously travel the world or even far away in this country for the sole purpose of leisure? Makes no sense. Every trip you take burns massive amounts of fossil fuels and causes tons of waste.

This is quite silly. We should not be focused on this at all. Not a major cause of issues. A lot would have to happen for this to matter. People need to travel more so that we have more understanding.

[Anonymous]

Because my overall footprint is still less than most. I drive an economical vehicle, and not even that much. Heat is set to 64 in winter, 77 in summer (little cooler at night). Small home, not a lot of land, do not have a consumerist mentality and don't buy junk stuff that isn't needed. Will keep the same phone for 5+ years.

[Anonymous]

My DD is adopted and so are my dogs. The fact I didn’t create more humans to populate the earth gets me planet brownie points. We also have solar panels and don’t have a huge house that we heat/cool. Oh and we are vegetarian so not supporting factory farming either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So going green is now en vogue. You aren't progressive, open minded, and concious unless you care about the planet. How then do you explain the massive demand then for travel and leisure? Taking a single flight burns nearly as much fossil fuel as you'd emit from an entire year's worth of driving. Then there is so much taxing consumption on the planet for water, land, pollution etc. all related to tourism and travel. The people who constantly talk the most about going green probably do things like buy expensive Teslas and solar panels, yet are the same types who cannot help to show off how much they travel on social media. How can one possibly be progressive on environmental issues and simultaneously travel the world or even far away in this country for the sole purpose of leisure? Makes no sense. Every trip you take burns massive amounts of fossil fuels and causes tons of waste.

This is quite silly. We should not be focused on this at all. Not a major cause of issues. A lot would have to happen for this to matter. People need to travel more so that we have more understanding.

No, it's a perfectly valid question, actually, because it's not like anyone's going to travel LESS. The goal is to travel CLEANER. Please raise awareness of electric planes.

[Anonymous]

I don’t give a Skip to My Lou about faddish, en vogue theatre about the environment. So when I hoist my hefty frame onto a First Class flight to the Islands to eat steak and lobster on the beach, taking Chevy Suburbans for every road interval, I feel not the slightest pang of guilt or hypocrisy.

We all need a code. I live by mine.

[Anonymous]

On my rare trip to a beach, I always bring a trash bag with me and pick up litter on my beach walks, while running errands, even around the place I stay. I’ve gotten so frustrated with the
lack of recycling at my IL’s beach condo that I often haul our own recycling back home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So going green is now en vogue. You aren't progressive, open minded, and concious unless you care about the planet. How then do you explain the massive demand then for travel and leisure? Taking a single flight burns nearly as much fossil fuel as you'd emit from an entire year's worth of driving. Then there is so much taxing consumption on the planet for water, land, pollution etc. all related to tourism and travel. The people who constantly talk the most about going green probably do things like buy expensive Teslas and solar panels, yet are the same types who cannot help to show off how much they travel on social media. How can one possibly be progressive on environmental issues and simultaneously travel the world or even far away in this country for the sole purpose of leisure? Makes no sense. Every trip you take burns massive amounts of fossil fuels and causes tons of waste.

Take it up with the corporations. They have more power to reduce overall emissions and pollution than consumers. I don't appreciate companies feeding us "go green" BS while they turn their backs on the massive waste they create.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because my overall footprint is still less than most. I drive an economical vehicle, and not even that much. Heat is set to 64 in winter, 77 in summer (little cooler at night). Small home, not a lot of land, do not have a consumerist mentality and don't buy junk stuff that isn't needed. Will keep the same phone for 5+ years.

Who constitutes “most”? Certainly it the worldwide most. Probably not the American most.

OP, here’s what I would basically say. We have a net worth of $4M in our early 40s. Most people of our means, in our area, live in 8k sf houses, but we squeeze into 4K sf. We only own two cars, neither is a Suburban, and one is a hybrid. Most of our vacations are driving destinations, and many of them are cruises, which we’re sharing with thousands of other passengers.

All of this is true. I, of course, would never bother to say any of it, because it’s a futile justification. You can not burn fossil fuels and explain it away by saying that someone else burns more. So I just shrug. If we need to decarbonize, we’ll do it with nuclear when people are ready for for that. Everything else is smoke and mirrors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So going green is now en vogue. You aren't progressive, open minded, and concious unless you care about the planet. How then do you explain the massive demand then for travel and leisure? Taking a single flight burns nearly as much fossil fuel as you'd emit from an entire year's worth of driving. Then there is so much taxing consumption on the planet for water, land, pollution etc. all related to tourism and travel. The people who constantly talk the most about going green probably do things like buy expensive Teslas and solar panels, yet are the same types who cannot help to show off how much they travel on social media. How can one possibly be progressive on environmental issues and simultaneously travel the world or even far away in this country for the sole purpose of leisure? Makes no sense. Every trip you take burns massive amounts of fossil fuels and causes tons of waste.

Take it up with the corporations. They have more power to reduce overall emissions and pollution than consumers. I don't appreciate companies feeding us "go green" BS while they turn their backs on the massive waste they create.

Corporations only provide what customer buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On my rare trip to a beach, I always bring a trash bag with me and pick up litter on my beach walks, while running errands, even around the place I stay. I’ve gotten so frustrated with the
lack of recycling at my IL’s beach condo that I often haul our own recycling back home.

Litter and climate change are too different things. Maybe you find homes for stray puppies, too, but it’s not relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On my rare trip to a beach, I always bring a trash bag with me and pick up litter on my beach walks, while running errands, even around the place I stay. I’ve gotten so frustrated with the
lack of recycling at my IL’s beach condo that I often haul our own recycling back home.

Litter and climate change are too different things. Maybe you find homes for stray puppies, too, but it’s not relevant.

I think litter PP has the right mindset of CARING for our planet. I also hope they put some thought into the impact of their transportation, but what I like to see is someone who thinks about at least one aspect of it, because inevitably it will lead them to be more aware in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is adopted and so are my dogs. The fact I didn’t create more humans to populate the earth gets me planet brownie points. We also have solar panels and don’t have a huge house that we heat/cool. Oh and we are vegetarian so not supporting factory farming either.

Yeah because so many of us are creating our own dogs…that’s what is causing environmental issues. 🙄

[Anonymous]

I’m interested in this topic, and I was so pleased to see the thread title.

Although I’m disappointed by OP’s snarky tone, I think this is something worth thinking about.

I agree with others who speak about balancing other areas of consumption with the desire to buy plane tickets. That’s how my family justifies it, too.

It would be interesting if we all had some kind of environmental credit system, so everything we did either cost or earned credits that had to be balanced at the end of the year: How many miles did you drive/how much meat did you eat/how many clothes did you buy—or discard—and how many times did you wear them/etc.

I read somewhere that “fast fashion” was the worst consumer-driven environmental offender, much worse than travel.

PS I’m not sure cruise ships are so great for the environment.