According to the Global Footprint Network I am responsible for about 27.5 tons of co2 per year which is higher than average Americans 19.78 tons, which is higher than the average world citizen's emissions. I am energy conscious, I use CFLs I shut off lights when I leave a room, I put my computer to sleep when I'm not using it and I try to unplug all my various electronics when they are not being used. I don't own a car, I use the subway. I am even active on my university campus as the president of the environmental club. Despite all these little things I do to reduce my energy consumption, I can't avoid the emissions from air travel.
I was born and raised in San Francisco where I was surrounded by a culture that encourages sustainability. The city requires us to divide our refuse into three cans, black for garbage, blue for recycling and green for compost. Additionally my parents instilled me with the values of energy and water conservation. When it was time for me to go to college I would bring with me understanding the value of recycling and other sustainable practices. I ended up at Yeshiva University, 3000 miles away from home.
I fly back home about three times per year which adds up to about 15,426 miles of air travel. Add in another 11,354 for the round trip flight from New York to Tel Aviv I rack up around 26,780 miles of flying for each of the past three years. According to how Carbonfund calculates air travel emissions I am responsible for about 5745.96 Kg of Co2. Should I feel guilty about this? As a practical environmentalist I firmly believe that people don't need to make unreasonable sacrifices to reduce their carbon footprint, just adjustments. Unfortunately there are no viable alternatives to cross country travel. When a flight is measured in hours and a train ride is measured in days and more expensive the train just isn't an option. So I come back to my conundrum, I am planning on going home for a visit again this summer and I am inevitably flying, should I bear any guilt about the literal tons of carbon emissions from the flight?