How to Fly Green:
6 Ways to Make Air Travel
More Sustainable

Finding eco-friendly travel methods can feel like an uphill battle, especially when discussing air travel. While planes leave trails of carbon dioxide in their wake and burn tons of fossil fuels to get you from city to city, it doesn’t have to be that way. Unfortunately, flying with planes have a negative effect on the environment. If you can’t live without flying, we recommend implementing some steps to go green while traveling. These sustainable travel tips will help you fly green without sacrificing the comfort and convenience of air travel.

By choosing to fly green, you can drastically reduce the harmful effects of air travel on the environment and improve your experiences as well. The rising cost of air travel has made sustainable travel more popular than ever. If you’re looking to save money on your next trip while making it greener, these six tips will help you fly green and save the environment simultaneously. 

1) Book direct flights

Booking direct flights is one of the easiest ways to reduce the environmental impact of air travel. Instead of jumping on a connecting flight that has to hopscotch across the globe, fly on a direct flight and reduce fuel consumption by 20%. If you’re lucky enough to live near an airport with one or more direct flights, you can skip away from all the hassle and noise at security checkpoints. 

2) Choose airlines with high ranking for eco-friendly practices

If you are set on flying, several airlines have high rankings for eco-friendly travel practices. You can search the web for eco-friendly travel and sort by ratings. Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue Airways, and Cathay Pacific rank well because they offer green options like reduced pollution and carbon emissions, which minimize their environmental impact. 

3) Take public transportation to get to the airport

Driving a car to the airport is bad for the environment and can be a huge waste of money. Instead, adopt eco-friendly travel by taking public transportation, biking, or walking. If you have to drive, try carpooling with someone traveling your route on the same day to split gas and parking costs. This will help reduce air pollution, solve environmental sustainability issues and save time since you won’t need to wait in long lines at airport parking lots.

4) Buy carbon offsets

A great way to do your part and make air travel green is to buy carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are a program that creates emissions credits that companies or individuals can purchase to pollute less than they would have been allowed. Buying carbon offsets will help the environment, benefit economies by developing clean energy sources, and promote healthier living.

 Carbon offsets, also known as carbon credits, are a great way to do your part and make you fly green. 

5) Consider carpooling or vanpooling

Another way to improve sustainability is carpooling or vanpooling with others in your neighborhood going to the same destination.

Vanpooling is sharing car trips so that more than one person travels in a car, eliminating the need for others to drive to a location themselves. Carpooling reduces travel costs, such as fuel, tolls, and the stress of driving, by allowing more people to use one vehicle.

 6) Eco-friendly luggage

Eco-friendly travel luggage is a step in the right direction for sustainable travel. This luggage has the same function as regular suitcases but without all the chemicals. Travelers can reduce the content of bags; this method proposes sustainability for travelers to bring their reusable bags with them when they fly green.

Many airlines offer their own lines of suitcases made out of recycled materials. We recommend checking your airline’s eco-friendly travel options online before heading to the airport.  Don’t forget to bring your reusable water bottle and other eco-friendly items on board. 

Additionally, travelers can reduce the size of their bags. The more bags we load, the more energy we consume. As a result, it is always preferable to travel with fewer bags when flying. When travelers fly green, these methods promote sustainability.

To find eco-friendly travel, you’ll have to do some research. Find flights that use less fuel, fly during off-peak hours, and consider taking one of the many low-cost carriers on the market. Flying green is all positively impacting acts on the environment by choosing to do things that won’t cause it harm. Whether you’re flying for business or pleasure, we hope these eco-friendly travel tips will help you have a sustainable and healthy adventure.

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