Offset carbon emissions brought about by travel

Our modern lifestyle is getting to be more convenient and high-tech than ever – from heating food in the microwave, to watching our favorite DVDs at home or driving our cars. Consequently, our everyday activities affect climate change. Whether on a road trip or flying on business class, travel entails fuel consumption. This results to carbon emissions which are the biggest contributors of global warming gases.

Since travel is an essential part of our lives, we can do our own way of helping the environment by trying to offset our carbon emissions. In other words, we replace our travel emissions by incorporating simple environment-friendly steps in our lifestyle. Some carbon offset companies and airline carriers provide an online calculator for determining the equivalent CO2 emissions (in tons) for any given air travel detail.

Using a carbon flight calculator, here’s how to find out the carbon emission produced for a two-way international flight.

After entering the flight details for a two-way Manila-Prague trip via Amsterdam (Schiphol Airport), the distance traveled is 22526.5 km with an equivalent CO2 emission of 1.32 tons.

Knowing how many tons of CO2 generated for a given travel activity helps to increase environmental awareness. We should be responsible in doing our share to compensate for the carbon emissions brought about by our travel. The simplest could be a DIY effort at home (turn of unnecessary lights or lessen your TV watching). You can also purchase carbon offset products equivalent to the amount of tons of carbon emissions. Another option is to contribute funds to an environmental charity or getting involved in community green projects such as tree planting or forest preservation.