Many people are starting to question whether their pre-pandemic travel habits can be sustained as borders reopen. Kerry Sunderland speaks to three New Zealanders, who have made it a point to avoid flying whenever they can.
My aunt and uncle from Canberra recently sent me word that they are going to New Zealand for a holiday later in the year. They would love to visit me during their time in Nelson. They are 92-years-old and 88-years-old, respectively. It’s amazing that they still travel at their age.
My initial reaction was to believe that I might have some of their adventurous old travel genes. But then, I remembered: If I keep flying as though there is no tomorrow, it’s unlikely that the planet will be habitable by the time I’m their age.
Although aviation is a relatively small sector, it contributed four to nine percent of the total climate-change impact of human activity prior to the pandemic, according to the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation. This caused a large, but often invisible, impact on climate system.
According to FlightAware, there are between 7,782-8,755 commercial aircraft in the air at any one time. This is 10%-20% less than pre-Covid days but the aviation industry continues to grow.
Air New Zealand declared it was the day New Zealand had waited for, welcoming more than 4,000 people on April 13, the day when border restrictions between Australia Australia and New Zealand were lifted. This wasn’t true for everyone.
Pre-Covid, I wasn’t the only one to realize that cheap fares were literally putting us in jeopardy. Many New Zealanders question the motivation to hop on a plane because it is convenient.
Ange Palmer is the co-producer for the 2013 documentary 2 DegreesThis documentary examines the disastrous UN climate negotiations process in Copenhagen in 2009. It also follows a courageous community campaign to build a solar thermal power station in South Australia. It’s a documentary that reminds us that everyone has a part in solving climate change. I was first struck by the New Zealand premiere and began to think about my carbon footprint and the effects of my domestic and international flights on the planet.
Palmer, in one of the bonus features on DVD, urges viewers not to fly and asks them to reconsider their need for travel by air.
Emma Neale, a Dunedin-based writer, also avoids flying when possible. Neale returned to New Zealand 20-years ago after having lived in the United Kingdom for a while. She has only made two trips overseas, one to Australia and one to New Zealand. Although she has traveled domestically for work once in a while, she prefers to avoid it when possible. Neale will often politely decline to travel, or ask to participate online.
Neale accepted an invitation to the 2019 Nelson Arts Festival. However, she was limited to traveling overland. The journey took Neale about 13.5 hours each way and consisted of three bus rides. It was spread over two days, six hours from Dunedin, Christchurch, then 7.5 hours to Nelson.
Bus travel can be a great option for someone with a creative mind. Neale says there were some amazing aspects to traveling this way. I saw so many sights, sounds, and collected lots of poetic imagery and comic scenes.
Just a quarter way through her outbound trip, she began to see the things: A concrete truck was an Elephant; fir trees were tribes or witches; and the gorse, lupin, were masses of scrambled Eggs. One time, trying to keep the bus driver’s words straight was like trying to listen to the doctor while being anesthetized.
Bill McEwan, Marlborough-based, has also pledged to avoid flying. Reading Bill McKibbens The End of Nature20 years ago was the first time he saw the serious crisis we are in. McEwan, then 70 years old, was inspired by Palmers doco, and his commitment to not fly at all domestically, to camp out in central Blenheim’s band rotunda with his 33-yearold son. Both of them fasted for a week in protest to civil action. He said it wasn’t a protest, but a Karanga, which was a call for the local community to begin having conversations about how they impact the environment. It was the birth of Climate Karanga Marlborough.
McEwan was the one who introduced me to the concept love miles. This term was first used by George Monbiot in Britain to describe the distance one must travel for friends, partners, and family.
He said that he has only made two flights by air in the last seven year, one to meet his Queenstown-based daughters and the other to visit his dying aunt across the Cook Strait.
He used to hitchhike but he says that he is too old to do so. Although he still takes the ferry, he finds other ways to get around. However, it is a hassle. McEwan is also adamant about the lack intercity public transport in South Island.
I made a promise many years ago to myself not to fly unless it was necessary travel, just like Neale, Palmer, and McEwan. After moving to New Zealand in 2012 I found myself returning to Australia approximately twice a calendar year to visit family and friends, and to work.I didn’t keep my promise. My promise to keep it was not kept. Flights became cheaper, which made it easier. But, I felt more and more anxious until the pandemic.
Covid-19 was the first to ground planes around the globe.The Great Pause was something I appreciated. The earth seemed like it was taking a deep breath. I was filled with joy.
The first lockdown also meant the end to my trans-Tasman travels every year and occasional holidays in Asia and the Pacific. I was already feeling guilty about the environmental impact of my travels, so I was relieved to have the option taken away.
Neale was also experiencing this strange relief. It took the moral decision from me.
But now that the borders have been reopened, I feel again conflicted. Can I justify going back to Australia this summer if it qualifies under legitimate love miles?
Neale also says that she allocates a small amount of love miles to herself, but suggests that you go for longer.
McEwan believes that there is still valid flying. This includes diplomacy and essential business. It is important to maintain kinship.
Palmer, who is now completely off grid, lives in Baton Valley where she hosts educational retreats, and grows her own vegetables. I also met Palmer recently. Her only daughter and her grandson live in Melbourne. I asked her her opinion on flying by air.
Palmer claims that she recently used a carbon calculator to calculate the impact of domestic travel. Although I have not flown domestically in many years, you can see the carbon emissions of driving alone from the South Island to Auckland. It’s a different story if I share my car with someone.
Palmer carpooled with her sister while she drove north to visit her father. To get home, she caught the bus from Napier and Wellington, then the ferry over the Cook Strait and drove home from Picton by herself.Normally, I would hitchhike in both islands. But it wasn’t so easy during the time of Covid.
Palmer still feels conflicted about flying despite earning love miles. But am I ready to never again see my daughter or grandson? This is the love mile paradox.
Air New Zealand recently revealed a roadmap To reach net zero emissions in 2050. This involves phasing-in sustainable aviation fuel, introducing zero-emission aircraft (including hydrogen powered planes), replacing its fleet, and improvements in operational efficiency.
The David Suzuki Foundation warns us that flying could account for 25% of all global emissions by 2050 if we don’t make drastic changes.
McEwan isn’t convinced technology will solve the problem. McEwan believes that Air New Zealand’s plan does not get to the root of the problem.
McEwan states that biofuels and other technology such as they are suggesting are designed to support the status quo. This will lead to global destruction. McEwan says that energy dissent is needed. We all need to consume less energy and do so quickly. We need to reduce affluenza, overconsumption, as well as change the status-quo. I don’t want to come across as a luddite but I do care about the consequences. We should only do a tenth the flying we are doing now.
My saving grace is that my husband has a fear about flying, which could keep me grounded. I’m not sure if I can make the third roundtrip from Motueka, Invercargill to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday in July. Perhaps I’ll just have to fly.
