CAN We Continue Traveling Without Harming the Environment?
- Aug 27, 2018
- 3 min read
Ever since I bought into social media, took my first Spanish class and listened to friends about their mission trips, I caught the infamous “travel bug.” That bug is what has persuaded me to learn Spanish, major in global business, study abroad in college, and now… climb Mt. Kili.
WHY DO WE TRAVEL?
The question must be asked, why are people - millennials especially - so obsessed with traveling? As a millennial myself there are two parts;
Social Media and the Internet. Without the internet and the constant connecting of people/information, I would never know or hear anything about traveling and the beauty of it. Without the beautiful Insta and Facebook posts of influencers and friends, I would never crave to create my own experience in a similar place. You can’t WANT what you don’t KNOW.
Enlightenment. After learning about these places, there has to be a purpose behind your travel… a desired outcome. In many cases, it is to find understanding of the world and oneself. Most people grow up immersed in a single culture with little understanding or experience of different ways of life. It typically isn’t until college that a person’s perspective and mindset are challenged, and once a person’s outlook on life is challenged a personal crisis follows -- “Who am I?” Through travel we hope to solve that question. By learning different cultures and navigating new environments we end up learning a lot about the world AND oneself. Traveling to new places gives adventurers a new perspective about life, that in turns helps them become better versions of themselves.
Every day I deal with the question of “Who am I?” and “What do I believe?” I cannot think of a world in which I never travel because it makes it that much harder for me to answer those questions. Even if you aren’t interested in answering these questions, traveling is still a beautiful and unique experience. That is why it is so hard to come to terms that fact that to learn about the world and myself through travel, I must hurt the environment to do so (WHHHAAA?).
HOW IS TRAVELING HARMING OUR ENVIRONMENT?
We are not all like Jack Jack from the Incredibles, meaning we can’t magically transport anywhere at anytime -- most people have to catch flights. According to Jack Miles of Washington Post, there is nothing else that “pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere faster than air travel.” International flights almost double your carbon footprint. A United States household of two has an average annual carbon footprint/emission of over 33,000 lbs WITHOUT any international trips (calculate your footprint here). If you add in just one international round-trip flight (i.e. LA → Morocco) you can increase your individual carbon footprint/emission up 8,000 lbs. To put things into perspective, world average carbon footprint/emission per person is 11,000 lbs and the UN suggests that 6,500 lbs is the sustainable rate of annual carbon emissions that is needed to stop or just slow down climate change.
Climate change is already negatively impacting our world and now we must figure out how to deal with the moral problem that every time we fly we end up doing more harm than good.
HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO TRAVEL WITHOUT HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT?
Realistically, I know there is no way that people will stop traveling (including myself). Traveling is too enriching of an activity to give up! That is why individuals should look for ways to start eco-funding their trips, like Cans for Kili is doing right now!
Eco-funding is the concept of funding trips and travel through environmental sustainability efforts (like collecting cans). It won't magically erase your carbon emissions but by finding ways to save the environment we can save money and reduce our growing carbon footprint every time we travel. Think about carbon emissions like you would your budget, you only have so much to spend. Spend wisely by cutting back on eating red meat, drive time, and increase your recycling so you can spend those emissions (and monetary savings) on things that you really care about, traveling.
Until our next adventure,
Maverick
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