My trip to Paris from Boston this past August emitted roughly 2.1 metric tons of carbon per passenger. It is more than the annual carbon footprint per person in 81 countries. It is more carbon than every person on Earth has left in their annual budget if we are to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius warming. And, it is the reason I signed the Flight Free 2020 pledge.
Although I had heard of Sweden’s “flying shame” movement, it did not prevent me from buying tickets to Paris. Rather, it was seeing Greta Thunberg cross the Atlantic in a zero-emissions sailboat as I boarded a Boeing 777 that shifted my perspective. Watching a 16-year old take responsibility for her carbon emissions let me see that I could do the same. Days after I landed back in Boston, I reached out to Flight Free 2020, a grassroots campaign that asks people to agree not to fly next year on condition that 100,000 others also pledge to do the same.
The Flight Free movement, which now has chapters in nine countries, offers a different approach to climate action than the traditional fear or shaming tactics that are served up. It encourages individuals to join together and to take pride in their efforts to combat climate change. You can take the Flight Free pledge (or a “flight diet”) at flightfreeusa.org.
KATHERINE LESWING
Concord