I was just coming to the end of my flight booking process with easyjet (off to the UK later in the month), when I was presented with the following message, in Spanish, offering to off-set my carbon emissions for me:
So, for 4.18 Euros per person Marina and I can stop feeling guilty about the 217 kilos of carbon we will each produce on our retrun trip to the UK, by helping to build an energy efficient power station in Ecuador. (I wonder if that figure takes into account the 50 or so kilos the plane must use taxiing half way round the planet to the new runway on the far side of Madrid’s Barajas airport?)
I think this kind of initiative is wonderful and am increasingly convinced that we are screwing up elements of the planet with our reckless use of energy resources. Yet something just feels weird about putting this in the hands of easyjet, and this time I didn’t tick the box. What would you do? Does it make perfect sense to pay off our carbon crimes the moment we buy a plane, boat or bus ticket? Should this just be included in the ticket price anyway?
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 