Carbon Offset Your Flight

What about Carbon Emissions caused by flying?

It is generally acknowledged that high carbon dioxide emissions are leading to “global warming” and that the rapid increase in the number and frequency of people flying is a contributing factor. What can we do about this? Well, to stop flying completely could have devastating effects on those people who rely on tourism. Imagine also, if no one visited the gorillas in Rwanda or chose to seek out the magnificent Bengal Tiger. How long do you think those animals and their environment would survive?

So what can you do?

At Exodus we have specifically developed two projects which have a direct benefit, not just to the local communities, but also help reduce carbon emissions and help the environment. The first of these is our ongoing installation of solar cookers in Nepal, a key part of our Nepal Environment Project, and the other is our Smokeless Stove Programme in Tanzania. We would encourage you to visit our pages here on our website to find out more about these projects and, if you would like, make a contribution. At Exodus we believe this is a tangible way to help reduce carbon emissions in some parts of the world we visit.

Promoting Responsible Tourism

Exodus has promoted responsible tourism as a part of its business ethic for many years and we practice this in many ways including supporting environmental and social projects in tourism destinations. Recently we have also supported a carbon sink project in Ecuador, which protected an area of forest and the carbon held in it and helped to reforest other areas. Although this has been worthwhile, the “carbon offsetting” debate and science has evolved and the focus now is to reduce carbon emissions rather than just plant more trees.

We have now developed a new element of this work to offer our customers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions element of their flights through an arrangement with the Tourism Industry Carbon Offset Service www.ticos.co.uk. TICOS a service set up specifically to work with tour operators to develop carbon offset projects in tourism destinations. TICOS is supported by UNESCO and the World Commission for Protected Areas as well as industry associations and we will work very closely with them in the development of projects which will make a significant contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions. To find out more about the specific projects please use the project link in the menu on the left.

There are many different calculators used by many offsetting services. Some give specific amounts for each destination, however these do not take into account the type of aircraft used, the route taken, the potential head or tail winds or the number of intermediate stops. We feel that a banding system where the amounts are calculated on an average flight to a particular region provides a clearer and more accessible guideline to how much is recommended, and please remember that every little helps.

At Exodus we currently offset all staff flights. If you would like to do the same details of the recommended amount can be found below and in the dates and prices box of each trip in the brochures and by using the banding map below.

Zonal Carbo Offset Map

The following bands are based on the distance travelled from the UK

Zone 1 GBP4 (green) - all of Europe, Middle East (Jordan, Egypt, etc.) and North Africa (Tunisia, Libya, Morocco).

Zone 2 GBP10 (yellow) - Asia (including India and Mongolia) / North America (except West Coast USA - LA and San Francisco) / W and E Africa (not Botswana/Namibia, S Africa)

Zone 3 GBP15 (orange) - Southern Africa, West Coast USA, Central / South America (not Argentina or Chile) / Rest of Asia (inc Japan, Malaysia, China, etc)

Zone 4 GBP25 (red) - Chile and Argentina, Oceania (Oz, NZ, Papua New Guinea, etc).

Exodus and Friends of Conservation

If you would like to carbon offset your flights through Friends of Conservation and TICOS visit Friends of Conservation Donation page on their website

We’re all conscious of the impact our holiday can have on the environment, but how conscious are we that our homes can generate a carbon footprint, even when we aren’t in the country? Here are some simple suggestions you could adopt to reduce your home’s carbon footprint while you’re away.

Switch off all appliances at the wall socket. Appliances, which are left on stand-by, continue to use power after you stop using them. Even chargers for mobile equipment continue to draw power while they aren’t connected to any equipment, simply unplug them. Try to run down the contents of your fridge and freezer before you go away. This will allow you to defrost and leave the appliance off. However, if you haven’t managed to empty your freezer, you’ll have a very empty fridge compartment, which is working overtime to chill the void. Simply fill old carrier bags with scrunched-up newspaper and fill any empty spaces. This will reduce the amount of air circulating in the fridge and therefore reduce the energy used to chill the contents. Turn off your central heating boiler while you’re away. If your house is well insulated, there will be very little chance of any pipes freezing. Even in the depth of winter, leave the thermostat at its minimum setting and the timer to come on only at night.

Close all internal doors to compartmentalise the temperature then turn off all radiator valves in rooms with no plumbing at risk. Alternatively ask a neighbour to keep an eye on the temperature and only turn the heating on, if there is a danger of freezing. Cancel all newspaper and milk deliveries and postpone the window cleaning until your return. If your place of work will be left unattended while you’re away, ensure that all equipment is turned off and, if appropriate, your “Out Of Office” tool is switched on, in order to minimise the resources used to contact you.

Have a look at Transport Directs website for suggestions on how to get to & from the airport using all available public transport. Driving to and from airports, particularly by taxi or with friends doubles the carbon footprint because the route that’s taken is four times as long as the journey you really need. UK domestic flights are less fuel-efficient than medium to long-haul journeys. Often National rail can be the cheaper, quicker, and more convenient and far more environmentally friendly option Make sure all your household waste and recycling is segregated and put out for collection before you leave. If during the preparations for your trip, you’ve chosen to renew or upgrade your holiday wardrobe, there are a number of organisations, which take old garments and recycle the fibres into new fabric.

• Recycle now
• LMB
• Valpak
• Traid.org.uk