EcoSmart Summer Travel

Thanks to Katharine Hayhoe for sharing this Great Idea – which is basically a wisdom-dump – in her weekly Talking Climate blog.

Katharine writes, ‘Summer is travel season for many of us – whether we’re headed to a favorite beach, seeing family, or visiting a long-anticipated national park. But as travel rises, so do the carbon emissions linked to to planes, hotels, and lodging. In fact, transportation makes up nearly a quarter of global heat-trapping gas emissions – and tourism alone accounts for about 8 percent of that.’

The link in that paragraph goes to a National Geographic article entitled, ‘How to travel better: a beginner’s guide to sustainable travel’ – an even greater wealth of wisdom around travel.

Katharine keeps it simple, though, with the following suggestions:

  • Fly less: prioritize essential flights, such as to see loved one.
  • Go closer and stay longer: utilize train, bus, or car – to discover local parks (Boundary Waters!) beaches, and hiking trails.
  • Fly smart: when flying is unavoidable, prioritize non-stop flights – takeoff and landing burns the most fuel.
  • Choose stays that give back: look for eco-certified and locally run. One caveat here: when staying in a personal home or cabin, please remember that that place is precious to its locals!

For many Minnesotans, this kind of travel is built in. Heading to a lake cabin for the weekend ticks off the entire list. Yea for Minnesotans!

However, sitting in traffic on a Friday afternoon – and again on Sunday evening – is not particularly ecofriendly. To ecosmart lake cabin weekends, please consider:

  • Departure and return times that avoid the worst of the traffic.
  • Carpooling with others heading in the same direction.
  • Supporting legislation to create a North/South light rail that would get more of us Up North without personal vehicles clogging the highways.

‘Most importantly’, write Hayhoe, ‘make these travel habits contagious by talking about them!‘

That’s where congregations come in:

  • Make this a theme for the Creation Care Team this summer.
  • Host a closed-loop ride board for carpooling.
  • Create a ‘Minnesota Attractions Fair’ highlighting local or regional (accessible by car, bike, train, our bus) attractions and sites. Invite the whole community to explore the wonder of Minnesota flight-free.
  • Encourage folx to TALK ABOUT summer travel plans and how they plan to make them more eco-friendly.

Read Hahoe’s full blog here.