No matter where you live and what kind of lifestyle you lead it is likely that travel makes up a large proportion of your carbon footprint. It is estimated that around a quarter of UK emissions come from transporting either ourselves or the goods that we buy.
When I was researching the carbon footprint of different modes of transport it quickly became clear to me that how we choose to travel can have a huge impact. To illustrate this I decided to do a thought experiment creating two hypothetical people who did the same amount of travel in the course of a year but chose to use different modes of transport. One used their car a lot and chose to fly when travelling abroad, the other chose to walk whenever possible and use the train for longer journeys, even for their holiday abroad. The difference this made to their carbon footprints was huge; one was 10 times that of the other!
Of course this is an over simplification. We all lead complex lives with many different journeys filling out our year. However, once we understand the impact of the way we choose to travel we can make informed decisions. We can decide to travel smarter, using less polluting modes of transport, we can also decide to travel less often and be more efficient with our journeys.
In my latest Climate Solutions Resource on Transport and Travel I have set out the ways in which you can make simple changes that will help you to reduce your carbon footprint. Hopefully you will find something that fits for you and helps you take the next steps on your Climate Journey.
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