Short Flight <1300km or 800 miles
SKU:
CA$25.00
CA$25.00
per item
Click here if you prefer to only offset your flight's carbon.
Get in touch if you'd like a customized impact assessment, and learn about methodology and how to decrease impacts below!
Get in touch if you'd like a customized impact assessment, and learn about methodology and how to decrease impacts below!
Flying is a short activity that has a disproportionately large impact - but it's pretty cool that humans can fly anywhere in the world!
We are very enthusiastic about providing information to others, so there's no need to read all of the below. But, if you're keen to learn more, please read on!
What's included in the package?
An average short-haul flight or roundtrip (less than 1,300km or 800 miles total) has the following approximate impact:
Carbon: 0.22 tonnes
Water: 10,200 gallons
Land: 0.25 global hectares
Examples of flights this distance are intra-European flights such as London to Madrid (one-way), or New York to Toronto (return).
See more details in our methodology section further below.
What if I can't afford the full footprint offset? Are there other options?
We know our supporters want to decrease impact on the environment, but sometimes it's not financially possible. First, read our spiel on why reducing impacts is preferable to offsetting impacts, and identify ways to reduce your negative impacts.
For whatever you can't reduce, we offer links to our partners’ websites if you are only interested/able to afford offsetting one of your footprints. The websites all have different navigation styles, but we’ve put a lot of time into making sure they’re the right fit and high quality, so enjoy checking them out!
Carbon footprint - Less.ca, use their flight calculator or tonnes calculator
Water footprint - BEF's Water Restoration Certificates®
Land footprint - BioR's land restoration program for ecological footprints
Buyer Beware: There are many offsets out there that sound lovely, and some do support excellent projects, but many of them are not verified by third parties which make sure their offsets are actually making the difference they claim. It's hard not to be enticed by the lower prices, but if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
We can also do personalized assessments of your impact, it may end up being lower than the average calculated in this package. If you're willing to put in a few minutes so we can find a more accurate impact, it may be lower than the price listed. Get in touch!
What can I do to reduce the impacts of flying?
You may have read our spiel on why reducing impacts is preferable to offsetting impacts where possible. Here are some ways to reduce your impact in the air travel category, or read the full article from David Suzuki Foundation:
Methodology and Sources
Carbon is calculated using Less.ca's carbon offset calculator. You can learn more details about what they include, why, and how in their FAQs. We also include high altitude impacts in our calculations. According to Less.ca, emissions released at high altitudes (e.g., during air travel) have a larger environmental impact than emissions released at lower altitudes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends that a radiative forcing factor of 2.0 to 4.0 be applied against all air travel.
Land is extrapolated based on its relative percentage compared to the carbon impact of air travel. It's been hard to exact data regarding ecological footprint of air travel. If you find a great source for this, please let us know!
Because carbon is typically included in ecological footprints, we "take out" the carbon to give people a picture of the scale of their carbon impact (because it's the largest impact of air travel, and a unit more people are used to learning about). This has the extra benefit of creating opportunities to support both our carbon and ecological footprint partners. Therefore, the ecological (land) footprint shared is the approximate ecological footprint of the flight MINUS the carbon impact of the flight.
Water is calculated based on information from National Geographic on the water impact of travel. Their site informative, but not very detailed. If you have a better source for water consumed during air travel please let us know!
Customized Assessments
As a reminder, we can also do personalized assessments of your impact, so you can dig deeper into the impact of what you're up to, whether a flight, event, your business, your life, anything goes! We can provided personalized recommendations on how to have the biggest reductions in your impact. If you're willing to put in a few minutes so we can find a more accurate impact (or hours, depending on how deep you want to go!), get in touch! We're a non-profit, so anything we do goes back into supporting the planet.
We are very enthusiastic about providing information to others, so there's no need to read all of the below. But, if you're keen to learn more, please read on!
What's included in the package?
An average short-haul flight or roundtrip (less than 1,300km or 800 miles total) has the following approximate impact:
Carbon: 0.22 tonnes
Water: 10,200 gallons
Land: 0.25 global hectares
Examples of flights this distance are intra-European flights such as London to Madrid (one-way), or New York to Toronto (return).
See more details in our methodology section further below.
What if I can't afford the full footprint offset? Are there other options?
We know our supporters want to decrease impact on the environment, but sometimes it's not financially possible. First, read our spiel on why reducing impacts is preferable to offsetting impacts, and identify ways to reduce your negative impacts.
For whatever you can't reduce, we offer links to our partners’ websites if you are only interested/able to afford offsetting one of your footprints. The websites all have different navigation styles, but we’ve put a lot of time into making sure they’re the right fit and high quality, so enjoy checking them out!
Carbon footprint - Less.ca, use their flight calculator or tonnes calculator
Water footprint - BEF's Water Restoration Certificates®
Land footprint - BioR's land restoration program for ecological footprints
Buyer Beware: There are many offsets out there that sound lovely, and some do support excellent projects, but many of them are not verified by third parties which make sure their offsets are actually making the difference they claim. It's hard not to be enticed by the lower prices, but if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
We can also do personalized assessments of your impact, it may end up being lower than the average calculated in this package. If you're willing to put in a few minutes so we can find a more accurate impact, it may be lower than the price listed. Get in touch!
What can I do to reduce the impacts of flying?
You may have read our spiel on why reducing impacts is preferable to offsetting impacts where possible. Here are some ways to reduce your impact in the air travel category, or read the full article from David Suzuki Foundation:
- Consider taking a vacation closer to home — or even being a tourist in your own town. You'll save money and avoid the stress of airport security, travelling to and from the airport, and sitting in those tiny seats.
- Use other modes of transport where possible. Trains and buses, for example, are much more energy efficient than airplanes, and for regional trips can even be faster when airports are factored in. Even cars can be more efficient than planes — especially with more than one passenger.
- Use video-conferences for meetings. Companies benefit from decreased costs at the same time that they're helping the planet. Employees avoid the stress of travelling and time away from home and family.
- Contact your political representatives, tell them you're concerned about the contribution of aviation to global climate change, and ask them to encourage innovation and take action to regulate and limit greenhouse gas emissions from this sector.
- Try to minimize the number of flights you take by combining trips. For example, book more than one meeting in your destination city, so you don't need to fly there several times.
- If possible when vacationing, instead of many short trips, plan for one long trip less frequently.
- Fly the most direct route possible, since take-offs and landings use the most fuel.
- Fly during the daytime, because studies have shown that flights taken at night have a greater impact on the climate.
- Fly economy, because more people per plane means fewer emissions per person.
- Choose airlines using new airplanes, the newer designs tend to be more fuel efficient.
- Pack light, because lighter planes mean less fuel is burned.
Methodology and Sources
Carbon is calculated using Less.ca's carbon offset calculator. You can learn more details about what they include, why, and how in their FAQs. We also include high altitude impacts in our calculations. According to Less.ca, emissions released at high altitudes (e.g., during air travel) have a larger environmental impact than emissions released at lower altitudes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends that a radiative forcing factor of 2.0 to 4.0 be applied against all air travel.
Land is extrapolated based on its relative percentage compared to the carbon impact of air travel. It's been hard to exact data regarding ecological footprint of air travel. If you find a great source for this, please let us know!
Because carbon is typically included in ecological footprints, we "take out" the carbon to give people a picture of the scale of their carbon impact (because it's the largest impact of air travel, and a unit more people are used to learning about). This has the extra benefit of creating opportunities to support both our carbon and ecological footprint partners. Therefore, the ecological (land) footprint shared is the approximate ecological footprint of the flight MINUS the carbon impact of the flight.
Water is calculated based on information from National Geographic on the water impact of travel. Their site informative, but not very detailed. If you have a better source for water consumed during air travel please let us know!
Customized Assessments
As a reminder, we can also do personalized assessments of your impact, so you can dig deeper into the impact of what you're up to, whether a flight, event, your business, your life, anything goes! We can provided personalized recommendations on how to have the biggest reductions in your impact. If you're willing to put in a few minutes so we can find a more accurate impact (or hours, depending on how deep you want to go!), get in touch! We're a non-profit, so anything we do goes back into supporting the planet.