As we all know, many human activities have dramatic consequences on the world and the environment. The flight to Palestine, for example, also contributes to environmental pollution. We, from Meet Palestine, were in doubt: Stop the trips or pollute our air even more?
Our experience is that the trips stimulate critical thinking, change perspectives and activate people. But there seems to be no alternative for the airplane at this moment. A car or train journey takes weeks and the electric plane is still in development. Others believe that fuel should be taxed. Unfortunately, the aviation industry has successfully resisted this taxation in the past years. The principle that the polluter pays, is apparently not applicable in aviation. But do we have to point our finger at the airlines? We are of course the polluter. We have started to impose a pollution tax ourselves.
How does the pollution tax work exactly? First you calculate how much kerosene your flight uses and how many kilometres you travel. You then translate this into greenhouse gas emissions. You divide this by the number of passengers and now you have determined your individual climate footprint for that one flight. We calculated this through klimaatplein.com, from Schiphol to Tel Aviv for example we came up with 3 tons of CO2. Even if there are transfers you can still calculate your emissions very easily.
How do I pay for the pollution that I cause? There are dozens of organizations that have a shared common goal: to reduce CO2 emissions anywhere in the world. Usually they are in developing countries as it is the cheapest way where you get the most value for your money. After all, it does not matter where the emissions are reduced for the climate. We have looked up among these organizations where the money can best be transferred to: the Fair Climate Fund. We have prepared a step-by-step plan for you:
1. Go to http://www.fairclimatefund.nl/en/ and press 'Direct Offset' on the homepage.
2. Type in: 'I want to compensate .. tons' and press the orange 'Add' button.
3. Scroll down and press another orange button with the title: 'View cart', then press ‘Proceed to checkout' and pay.
In the end it is better to prevent environmental pollution than to compensate. But the journeys to Palestine are a reason for us to opt for compensation in this case. We believe this environmental impact is better than nothing and should actually be normal.
Our experience is that the trips stimulate critical thinking, change perspectives and activate people. But there seems to be no alternative for the airplane at this moment. A car or train journey takes weeks and the electric plane is still in development. Others believe that fuel should be taxed. Unfortunately, the aviation industry has successfully resisted this taxation in the past years. The principle that the polluter pays, is apparently not applicable in aviation. But do we have to point our finger at the airlines? We are of course the polluter. We have started to impose a pollution tax ourselves.
How does the pollution tax work exactly? First you calculate how much kerosene your flight uses and how many kilometres you travel. You then translate this into greenhouse gas emissions. You divide this by the number of passengers and now you have determined your individual climate footprint for that one flight. We calculated this through klimaatplein.com, from Schiphol to Tel Aviv for example we came up with 3 tons of CO2. Even if there are transfers you can still calculate your emissions very easily.
How do I pay for the pollution that I cause? There are dozens of organizations that have a shared common goal: to reduce CO2 emissions anywhere in the world. Usually they are in developing countries as it is the cheapest way where you get the most value for your money. After all, it does not matter where the emissions are reduced for the climate. We have looked up among these organizations where the money can best be transferred to: the Fair Climate Fund. We have prepared a step-by-step plan for you:
1. Go to http://www.fairclimatefund.nl/en/ and press 'Direct Offset' on the homepage.
2. Type in: 'I want to compensate .. tons' and press the orange 'Add' button.
3. Scroll down and press another orange button with the title: 'View cart', then press ‘Proceed to checkout' and pay.
In the end it is better to prevent environmental pollution than to compensate. But the journeys to Palestine are a reason for us to opt for compensation in this case. We believe this environmental impact is better than nothing and should actually be normal.