Choose greener and cleaner transportation

Go car-free

Eliminating car travel is a first step. Fewer cars on the road leads to decreased congestion in cities, reduced air and noise pollution and more liveable cities. Although smart, sleek, quiet electric cars that can be charged using renewable energy are being touted as the best alternative to gas-guzzling vehicles, there are not enough rare metals on earth to replace all fossil fuel cars with electric ones. Plus, mining for these rare earth minerals is an extremely environmentally damaging process. Thus, we have to look beyond private individual transportation methods.

Fly less

Flying emits a lot of carbon dioxide. For example, one round trip flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai, India roughly doubles an individual’s annual greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint. The figure below also shows that a single flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai emits roughly 1144kg of CO2, which in 62 countries around the world is higher than the average carbon footprint of a single individual!

Although flying provides a quick and convenient way to get around the world, it causes a lot of environmental damage. Although carbon credits can be purchased to offset your flight, this is not enough for the following reasons: 

1. These credits shift the responsibility of carbon reduction onto someone else.

2. Offsetting does not solve the root cause of the problem: flying.

3. Offsets alone cannot solve the problem: only reductions can..

4. It is difficult to track where money from carbon offsetting goes and whether it has a real positive impact. Some offsetting projects, such as monoculture plantations, do not benefit the environment. While we highly encourage forest restoration, the primary strategy must focus on reducing our footprints and then offsetting the remaining amount.