A bit different from the usual article, so bear with me please. Carbon offsetting a domestic flight is something I’ve never done before. I’ve never really had cause to, as I avoid domestic flights if at all possible.
The environment, moreover, saving it, is a passion of mine I may or may not have mentioned previously. If I haven’t, I’m saying it again: I feel it’s one of my moral obligations.
Why Carbon Offsetting?
Honestly, I am completely against domestic flights unless in an emergency. To state the obvious, or to clarify for everyone, they are horrendously bad for the environment. According to Statista, pre-COVID domestic flights carried upwards of 35 million people each year. Since COVID, this number has dropped but is again rising. In 2021, 13.7 million people took to the skies in the UK for all of five seconds. To travel from Edinburgh to London (the most common UK domestic flight), a plane would emit a number in the realms of 144kg of Carbon Dioxide into the air. This is compared to 24kg of Carbon Dioxide via train. Therefore, carbon offsetting a domestic flight would have a big impact, especially if everyone was to do it.
When I saw that the proposed flight path for Japan included a flight from Edinburgh to London, I was horrified. I spent a while trying out alternative options: getting a bus or train to London and just flying from Heathrow? But each option came out more expensive. And equally as important, not possible with the time we had booked for annual leave.
In fairness, one could suggest we cut our trip down to account for the extra travelling days via more sustainable methods. However, there was no question that we were reluctant to do this. It’s not every day you can travel to Japan. So, we didn’t want to miss a second, if we could help it. I looked then to carbon offsetting a domestic flight.
In the end, our flights are as follows.
For the outbound on the 27th June (arriving 28th June):
05:55-07:30 Edinburgh (EDI) to London Heathrow (LHR), then 09:10-07:00 London Heathrow (LHR) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) – Total Duration: 17h 10 mins
For the inbound on the 18th July (arriving 18th July):
13:15-19:55 Tokyo Haneda (HND) to London Heathrow (LHR), then 21:15-22:40 London Heathrow (LHR) to Edinburgh (EDI) – Total Duration: 17h 25 mins
How Does it Work?
I had heard of carbon offsetting previously and took to the internet to find out more. I found this site which I think is super easy to use: Clear.eco. You enter your departure and arrival airport, indicate the flight class (economy for us, obviously!), say whether it’s a return flight or not, and for how many people (flight quantity). Of course, I looked into the projects that they undertake and how they use our pennies to reduce the effects of CO2 and global warming across the globe. There are currently 15 projects ranging from generation of clean electricity using biomass in Brazil, to improving the cooking stoves of residents in African countries. This latter is quite interesting and something I’ve never thought of. By replacing traditional cooking fires with more fuel-efficient stoves, this can lead to reduced deforestation, improved air quality and decreased emissions. Pretty snazzy.
It’s not just for personal flights either. If you want to skydive (rather you than me), or take a balloon flight, then it’s got the tools for that. For the less adventurous, boring and mundane amongst us, you can carbon offset anything from your hotel stay to your car. Although, I think perhaps you might end up going down a rabbit hole there. It’s important to remember that doing your best, and making some small changes is better than nothing at all. Carbon offsetting a domestic flight, even if you don’t carbon offset anything else, is better than nothing. It must be noted that I am not affiliated with this company in any way, shape or form. Although, I wouldn’t not like to be.
Who Did I Choose?
As a result of my investigation into Clear.eco as a company, I can say that from their beginnings in 2005, they’ve been certified as a B Corporation since 2021. This means that they meet the highest standards of social and environmental impact. In 2022, they were recognised as “Best for the World” by ranking in the top 5% in their corresponding size group, during an evaluation of the five impact areas. They also offer offsetting to businesses, as well as other help and guidance. When you offset your carbon with Clear.eco, it’s QAS-certified and independently audited annually to ensure it continues to meet stringent criteria. Not to mention, an independent accountant signs off every carbon offset purchase line-by-line to make sure every tonne of carbon is accounted for – poor human.
What’s the Cost?
How much did it cost? For this 0.65 tCO2e, for my partner and I’s return flights from Edinburgh to Heathrow, at 50% carbon negative, we paid £18.51. That’s £9.25 each.
In sum, my partner and I have chosen to completely carbon offset our return domestic flights between Edinburgh and London,. We also added an extra 50% into becoming carbon negative for those flights. The website gave me a certificate per return flight. They declare I have offset 0.65 tonnes of CO2e through the Quality Assurance Standard for Carbon Offsetting. After some research, I found that CO2e, or tCO2e stands for Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent. This here glossary explains that seven different greenhouse gases are tracked, and these are summarized as the equivalent amount of Carbon Dioxide that would give the same warming effect.
Upcoming Travels
Of course, our journey does not stop in London Heathrow. From here, we are flying on to Japan where we’ll spend 3 weeks travelling around southern Japan by train and bus (no more domestic flights on this trip, thank you!) and exploring what their land and culture has to offer. From what I’ve seen so far, that’s quite a lot! We are BEYOND excited!! Read all about it, coming soon to a device screen near you!
In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or funny jokes, please do not hesitate to drop me a line, or leave me a comment. Do you have a different, or even better, method to offset carbon from flights?
Any recommendation for Japan or environmentally friendly thing to consider? I want to know it all.
