Brighter Planet

Fly the greener skies

Flying may save you time, but it certainly doesn’t save you carbon. Flying emits harmful amounts of both carbon and nitrogen, potent greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Additionally, layovers add up to 25% more carbon emissions than flying the same distance direct. By purchasing Planet Shares to offset your flights, you’ll be supporting renewable energy projects like wind, methane and solar power in communities across the country, paving the way to a more sustainable energy future. Of course, the best way to reduce the emissions is to fly less! Flying makes up about five percent of the average American’s carbon footprint.

How do we calculate your flight’s emissions?

Short-haul flights are generally defined as flights covering less than about 300 miles, which translates to about an hour of flying time. We use a distance of 275 miles to calculate the emissions from a “short” flight. That’s a little less than the distance from Atlanta to Orlando.

Unsurprisingly, airplanes use far more fuel during takeoff than while cruising or landing. This makes short flights far more carbon-intensive per mile traveled than long flights — an aircraft uses the same amount of fuel during takeoff whether it is flying 100 or 1000 miles. We use emissions factors from the World Resources Institute’s GHG Protocol to estimate the CO₂ emissions from air travel. These factors are based on UK and EU estimates that integrate a variety of variables such as common aircraft models and load factors used on different length flights.

In addition to CO₂, aircraft also emit water vapor, NO_x, and other compounds high in the atmosphere. The net effect of these compounds is to increase the total global warming potential of the aircraft’s emissions. We multiply the aircraft’s CO₂ emissions by a factor of 2 to account for these effects.

When you choose to buy offsets from Brighter Planet, you join a community of green Americans doing their part for the planet. Your purchase includes:

• Top-quality offsets from the exclusive Brighter Planet blend
• Access to meaningful conservation tips that match your lifestyle
• An online climate profile that allows you to record your conservation efforts, manage the offsets you’ve purchased and earned, and track your progress as you go beyond carbon neutrality
• A beautiful certificate for you to print and display

Related conservation recommendations

• Avoid night flights.
• Fly direct.
• Ride the rails.
• Take the bus.