Is it OK to fly to New Zealand for a holiday?
In terms of your carbon footprint, one holiday in New Zealand is equivalent to 60 holidays in Scotland. According to co2balance.com, one person’s return flight from Heathrow-Wellington is responsible for 4.14 tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. A return train trip from Euston-Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland, however, emits only 0.07 tonnes. So can you justify flying half way around the world, given the impact the flight will have on climate change?...
It's difficult to square your conscience with this dilemma, yet it’s hard to resist the attraction of New Zealand’s great outdoors. So what can you do to alleviate the hefty environmental price you’ll be paying? Stay in an eco-friendly place like Eco Inn and buying local food helps, and the longer you stay, the more of a carbon saving you’ll be making. And by visiting some of New Zealand’s fabulous National Parks and protected trails managed by the Department of Conservation your entrance and accommodation fee will go towards their upkeep. You can also offset the carbon emitted from your flight - co2balance.com suggests £38 for the return flight to New Zealand. It’s no solution, but it’s a lot better than doing nothing.
This article, by Richard Hammond, was first published in the Guardian.
See also on GreenTraveller: Is it OK to go on a responsible holiday when it involves flying?.
Travelling UK to New Zealand
I'm also interested to find an environmentally responsible way of travelling between the UK and New Zealand. Is it possible to take a ship?
Obviously there used to be ships to the antipodes and there is frieght shipping now. (The quickest I've seen it advertised is 36 days)
What would be the carbon impact of a return trip on a ship?
At first I thought this is a crazy idea, but 100 years ago being able to travel to the other side of the world in little over 1 month would have been amazing, so with a slight shift in thinking it's not crazy it's responsible.
Comments/thoughts appreciated
Long-haul holidays
We brought our 4 children up to be independent and to do interesting things - with the result that 2 of them now live abroad. Our oldest daughter went to work in a ski resort in New Zealand 12 years ago, married a farmer, and never came home (well, only on holiday!) Our oldest son went to Japan on a student exchange in Sixth form, and couldn't wait to go back - so he joined the JET programme after graduation and taught in Japan for 2 years. And met a delightful American girl - so he now lives in Helena, Montana.
Our dilemma becomes obvious - normally I would never consider a long-haul holiday, but after all we desperately want to see our children - and now grandchildren - occasionally.
We usually holiday in the UK or France, travelling by car, never flying. But we love New Zealand - it's a very special place, well worth the expense and hassel to get to. So you can see my problem..........
NZ eco-dilemma
Dear Richard,
You say that "It's difficult to square your conscience with this dilemma". But it's not difficult – it's impossible. Unfortunately, your logic in this eco dilemma piece seems somewhat flawed.
You say that "the longer you stay, the more of a carbon saving you'll be making". But there won't be any carbon saving. Virtually everything we do has a carbon impact, and staying a long time in an eco-lodge does not save any carbon at all. It certainly does not offset or justify dumping 4.14 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere on your flight to and from New Zealand.
Entrance and accommodation fees may help towards the upkeep of New Zealand's national parks – but climate change will wreck these places, and money is not the solution. Concerned conservationists would do better to stay at home and send a cheque (preferably not by air mail).
Your final comment – that carbon offsetting is no solution – is correct. But then how can no solution be better than doing nothing? Answer: it can't.
Green Traveller is a great forum, and there are loads of good ideas here. But the idea of jetting off to New Zealand for a holiday is not one of them. I would urge you to include Heat by your fellow Guardian columnist George Monbiot in your list of recommended books.