So, you want to follow my path and hitch a ride across the Pacific? Been there, done that. But not on my own wings – my ancestors relied on cargo shipments to get around the globe.
I understand the guilt, the irony of expending 5,456 air miles [1] and 3,200kg of CO2 [2] to study in two environmentally focused institutions, the University of Bristol and Pitzer College (during the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport, no less).
You’ve tried: a direct flight, an economy seat, soothing your conscience with Virgin Atlantic’s pledge to net zero by 2050 [3]. Melodramatic to lose sleep over a journey? Maybe. But focus on the next steps.
Take my species, flocking around humans for 11,000 years, gobbling down discarded pizza crusts, living out TooGoodToGo’s [4] ethos long before the app existed. Did you know we once outnumbered humans in the states? 150 million strong in the 1940s. Not anymore; our nesting sites are vanishing on both sides of the Atlantic. Learn from what’s left of us, our small, resourceful communities making the most of what we have instead of reaching for more.
Luckily, resilient and innovative infrastructure is already embedded into Pitzer’s framework (they’ve clearly been reading up on SDG 9!) [5]. Where to start; a green bike programme, a student garden, food and pre-consumer waste composting, and a push toward 100% renewable energy all integrated into student life. There’s a lot to learn from the kind of mindfulness, pay attention to it, and carry it back to Bristol.
Focus on what you can control, and act with intention. Take SDG 12: sustainable consumption. It’s so easy to be plant-based with the help of HappyCow [6], and why not take advantage of your location and be a locavore? Eat seasonal produce from Farmers’ Markets, found through the Local Food Directory [7], from supplies that didn’t travel any further than you did.
There’s no need to add to the smog choking Los Angeles’s skyline when the city is so rich in natural beauty. Follow SDG 11 and be an ecotourist; swap out a Hollywood studio tour for a hike through the San Gabriel Mountains and soak in the expertise of a local guide. And, for my sake, stay on the marked paths and give any nesting site a wide berth.
If you want to see more of the country, at least take Amtrak [8] – you can save 72% emissions compared to flying and watch the desert move past instead of the inside of a cloud.
Sustainability isn’t a single flight neatly measured by an emissions calculator (though it’s still worth checking one), it’s economic, social, and environmental, tangled together. The knowledge you carry back and forth is worth more than your carbon cost (if you spend it on the ground, soaring at the pace of a bird, not a jet).
Remember me, and take a bird’s eye view.
Resources:
1: https://www.airmilescalculator.com/
2: https://flightfree.org/calculator/
3: https://www.sustainabilitytracker.com/
4: https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-gb
5: https://sdgs.un.org/
6: https://www.happycow.net/
7: https://www.usdalocalfoodportal.com/
8: https://www.amtrak.com/home
