How Many Paper Straws Does it Take to Offset a Private Jet?
Is it worth it for us to be conscientious citizens, or should we just hunt a billionaire?
Climate change is a scary concept, and one that often feels just too big for us to handle. It’s one thing to try and recycle, to start a compost heap, to buy local, but how do these everyday actions measure up against scary, abstract things like “carbon emission targets”?
It also feels incredibly frustrating, because we keep hearing that we all need to do our part — and then we see people proudly, actively, destroying the environment.
There’s a Twitter account, @CelebJets, that tracks the private planes used by celebrities. It’s leading to many people getting angry, especially when they hear about situations like Kylie Jenner taking a 17-minute flight by private jet. (Although apparently, Taylor Swift is the most egregious offender.)
That’s incredibly wasteful — and incredibly damaging to our climate. Private jets are anywhere from 5–14x more polluting than commercial planes, and 50x worse than an efficient ground-based system, like a train.
So when we hear messaging about how we should be using paper straws instead of plastic, but then see Instagram and Twitter posts about the wealthy flaunting…
