---
title: My carbon footprint after a year of travel and 25+ flights
author: George Mandis <george@mand.is>
date: 2014-07-09
tags: post, post, travel, flight, eco
---

<p>I decided to calculate my carbon footprint for all the flights I took last year per <a href="http://carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx?tab=3.">carbonfootprint.com</a>. It came in Somewhere between 7.934 and 15 <em>metric tons</em> per their calculations.</p>
<p>Yikes.</p>
<p>The cost of carbon offsets would come in somewhere around $300, but I have mixed feelings about that. It feels a little like paying someone else to diet for you. I also have some reservations about the way the carbon footprint is calculated and what it actually means — shouldn't it factor in how many people were actually on the flight? If one person offsets his or her carbon emissions from the same flight how does that work?</p>
<p>The literal emission quantity per individual isn't entirely the point though; the point is air-travel is a substantial contributor to air pollution and something worth paying attention to.</p>
<p>I was reminded of this article about the meteorologist who decided to give up flying:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/03/ipcc-climate-report-eric-holthaus">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/03/ipcc-climate-report-eric-holthaus</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>