It seems somewhat fitting as we approach August, the traditional holiday month here in the UK, to have a little look at flying…

DID YOU KNOW:

• 2-5 % of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of aviation
• Yet only around 5% of the global population actually use aeroplanes
• Meaning that as consumers, a plane ticket is about the most carbon intensive thing you can buy
• If you are one of the 5% of the global population who fly, flying will be the single biggest contributor to your carbon footprint
• Flying is the fastest growing cause of climate change
• If aviation was a country, it would be the 7th worst polluter globally
• Brits already fly more than the people of any other nation - twice as much as Americans
•  Even if we take other steps to be environmentally friendly, one flight can completely wipe out all the other savings 

In this episode I’m chatting to Anna Hughes, author, crazy cyclist, all round sustainability good egg, and founder of the Flight Free UK 2020 campaign – she shares with us the inspiration behind the campaign, why it’s so important, and how we can get involved.

I love Anna’s down to earth approach – although she is a hardened non flyer herself she’s really aware of the fact that for lots of us, giving up flying is a big ask. And that’s why the campaign is to have a flight free 2020 and isn’t asking us to give up flying forever, although obviously the idea is that having managed for a year, we will have re-assessed our relationship with aviation, and might choose to travel differently at least some of the time moving forwards.

So fasten your seatbelts, stow your laptops and make sure your seat is in the upright position (sorry couldn’t resist!) as we prepare to not take off

Enjoy!

A little heads up before you dive on in to this episode - there's a little bit of background noise at various points, please just ignore and continue to enjoy the podcast  

Useful links

• ​Flight Free UK ​
  - Website
  ​- Pledge page
  - Facebook
  - Twitter
• A Free Ride - campaign for a frequent flyer levy
• Climate Perks - works with employers to reward employees who choose to travel by road or rail with paid 'journey days'
• The Man in Seat 61 - great site covering all things train travel!
• LOCO2 - a website that helps you to buy train and bus tickets around the UK and Europe in one place without having to visit multiple different sites!
• Flixbus - for bus/coach travel
• [017] Sustainable(ish) travel with Earth Changers (podcast) 
  

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