Sweating About Our Carbon Footprint

Each year we take 20,000 Americans to Europe on Rick Steves Europe Tours and more than a million Rick Steves guidebooks are printed and sold. In other words, inspiring so many people to cross the Atlantic makes me a huge contributor to global warming.

Rick Steves with "Hottest Day Ever" newspaperAs a company, we want to find a smart way to help our travelers be carbon neutral. We could buy carbon offsets for each transatlantic flight and we could support groups (such as the Union of Concerned Scientists) that advocate for governmental policies that are smart in regard to climate change.

This challenge has frustrated me for a long time. Do you simply throw money at some charity to assuage your carbon-footprint guilt (which might be squandered by a company just cashing in on these environmental concerns) or can you help fund work that really makes a difference? I wish there was a rock-solid assurance that if you fly to Europe and give money to xxx, then you’ll truly be a carbon-neutral flier.

If you were running my tour company, what would you do? Thanks.

 

Comments

18 Replies to “Sweating About Our Carbon Footprint”

  1. There is no one simple solution. Education and leading by example are the way to go:

    – I use a Kindle. While there is a environmental cost to its manufacture, I do not upgrade but use an older model. This saves on paper since I read many books and have a lot of guidebooks on my machine.
    – I encourage folks to go paperless when the option exists. I use an old iPad with a keyboard for taking notes also reducing my paper use.
    – Don’t take brochures if I’m just going to toss it down the street or not take it home with me. Rather I take a photo on my phone.
    – Recycle as much as I can (including food scraps which is gaining popularity where I live).
    – Can’t do much about travel and fuel, but use mass transit and minimize the use of personal cars even if there is an increased effort to make that work. Cruises are nice but they consume a lot of fuel and are wasteful. They leave their mark on the waters they cross.
    – Respect the cultures and norms of the countries I visit which usually requires going “native.” Americans are really wasteful compared to other countries.
    – Hopefully taught my two children about going “green” and saving the planet.

  2. First, let me clearly state that I appreciate your thoughtfulness regarding this important matter. If there’s an environmental group to which you want to contribute then you should make a donation. You’re a smart guy so I’m sure you wouldn’t make a donation without doing your due diligence. However I don’t think you’re obligated to take any action. Let’s say that I decide against taking a Rick Steves tour to Paris because I’m concerned about its environmental impact. The flights will still go regardless of whether I’m on it as will the metro. You could argue that my decision to opt out of the tour could result in one less tour bus being driven but if I stayed home I’d be driving my car every day,which is probably worse. As for the manufacturing of your books, which are great sellers, the resources involved are nothing compared to the things most of us do everyday without giving a second thought…daily showers, driving cars, eating meat,etc. The point Im trying to make so inarticulately is that pretty much any activity has some effect on the environment. I wouldn’t fret too much over writing / reading books and group travel. In the grand scheme of things they are way down the line in terms of environmental problems. (And before anyone makes a nasty comment please note that I specifically said group travel a la Rick Steves)

  3. In a round about way you can help this country, by giving to organizations that will fight against the Trump administrations efforts to ruin our country with air, and water pollution. All these regulations that have kept us breathing and drinking clean water are now all on the chopping block. You may not directly correct the carbon foot print, but this is very important to our future and our survival. He is destroying our whole Scientific community. I know that there are many organizations now that are fighting all of these issues.

  4. Rick, you are already carbon neutral. True sustainability has 3 prongs: economic, social and environmental. Economic: Thousands of people are employed in the travel industry. If you did not bring tours, they would not have work. I work in the field of historic preservation and historic communities are often located in areas that make them particularly vulnerable to climate change. For example, they are often sited near beautiful waterways because when they were founded, the inhabitants needed close access to water. Today those waterways may flood more frequently for reasons of climate change and human habitation. Without the economic benefits of tourism, these communities would not have the resources to combat an increasingly hostile climate.

    Without tourism and books about other cultures, how could we possibly understand each other? Tourism is peace-making. Peace-making diminishes wars. Wars cost too much in terms of human, environmental, and economic loss. Tourism is key to environmental sustainablity.

    Full planes and vehiclesare most efficient; so you help fill up the planes and the buses. Some day planes will be solar-powered. We are getting better at engine efficiency.

    The best thing you can do for the built and natural enviroments is to stay in business.

    Judy

  5. I think connecting the tourism industry and supporting climate change and sustainable development could go hand in hand. The key is finding the right enterprise to support. One of the criticisms of offsets and the like is that they don’t really provide “additionally” and do not result in projects that would have happened regardless. I think groups like the Gold Standard (as advocated by David Suzuki) may be a enterprise worth connecting with—
    http://www.goldstandard.org/#our-story

  6. Rick, I applaud you for being aware of your carbon footprint. Even though you are an edge case in the amount you travel and the cultural awareness your bring to people is quite valuable, it’s great that you want to set a good example.

    I’m sure it would help to have renewable energy powering your home and office. Or maybe donate a percentage of your sales to an environmental charity, one that plants trees specifically. But you can dramatically reduce your carbon footprint in the first place by not eating meat or dairy. I realize local and traditional food is a big part of the experience of travel for you, but eating less meat/dairy should be something you strive for, at least for the time you are at home. And hey, maybe you could do a show or a series on travelling Europe as a vegetarian!

    A fully vegan diet contributes less than half the CO2 as the average meat-eater’s diet (a vegetarian diet with dairy and eggs is somewhere between). And it has been said in multiple international and UN studies that livestock is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, plane, and ships in the world combined. An easy way to learn a bit more is the recent documentary called “Cowspiracy” and it’s website, which cites MANY sources on the detrimental effects of the livestock industry (http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/). It won’t make you “carbon neutral” but it will make it easier to to get there.

    Love your work Rick.

  7. Al Gore bought an $8 million home by the beach. Leonardo DiCaprio flew to Europe by private jet to denounce fossil fuels. The warm-monger confab in Scandanavia used over 100 private jets and 1000 private limos. I’ll believe the threat is real when the warm-mongers act like it’s real.

    Millions of years ago there were alligators and turtles in the Arctic. During the Roman Empire glacier tongues were at least 300 meters shorter than they are now. Chariots don’t have a footprint. Alligators didn’t buy offsets.

    There have times when carbon levels were almost 1000 times what they are today. An example is the start of the first great Ice Age.

    Climate change in natural. Don’t be Chicken Little.

  8. Rick,

    Advertise and incentivize regarding your electronic media to a greater proportion to communicate your travel books, rather than your print version. Additionally, use your platform as a public figure to educate your travellers about the balance of responsible travel in an environmental conscious way. Do not donate to a group but begin in your own company a department which sole mission is to educate and raise awareness about global warming via your books, website, videos and tours.

    This could serve as your most important legacy to balance travel with environmental awareness. Raising awareness to all the Rick Steves travellers and having those travellers adopt those ideas and policies in their own lives will balance the greater carbon footprint your company has facilitated over the past few decades.

    In short, you and your team are the change you are looking for.

    Peter, MD

  9. Rick, I can appreciate your concerns for the environment.
    I think we are all doing the best we can by just being diligent, eliminating waste, recycling, and any other contributions we can come up with. With all the good you are doing by getting Americans to get out of their comfort zones and to go visit other cultures and nations is so valuable to the planet, that you need not worry more. Just keep on doing what you’re doing now!
    Peace!
    Love!
    Chianti and chocolate!

  10. How nice that you’ve added chocolate to your sign off, Gary! For anyone who’s interested, there’s an article on CNN.com regarding today’s election in the Netherlands. It’s brief but I learned quite a bit.

  11. I’d like to answer the question in two parts – I hope both are helpful.

    1) I honestly believe that focusing on the good your doing should be your primary focus. By using your God-given talents where you have them, you’re broadening people’s minds and helping form bridges between countries, societies, and peoples…and that is going to improve the world in ways that differ from what you’re thinking about here (but it’s no less important). I would hate to see what you’re already doing so well suffer because you wanted to do “too much good”.
    2) That said, if it’s something you’re really interested in, passionate about, and feel you can do well…I would focus on making investments in developing countries. The reality is that while the U.S. of course is an imperfect country, it’s relatively clean compared to some, and you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck by investing in these other countries. I would consider a country like Albania, where they have legislated a binding target of 38% renewable energy by 2020, or you might consider the Green For Growth Fund (I would include the link, but I see your note about no links). Again, you’ll be investing in a place you love, and you’ll be using your resources wisely.

    Best of luck!

  12. I think there are tons of ways to incorporate this value AND do it in a way that enhances the experience for everyone on your tours!

    Some random ideas in random order:

    As you’ve said so many times, and as I know myself, spending time with locals is one of the best ways to really experience a country. It would take a bit of research, but undoubtedly you can find volunteer activities that are going on that your groups could be a part of. Whether trail restoration, tree planting, helping with recycling, etc.

    A thought on that: Not everyone who goes on your tours would want to do this sort of thing. You could have either one optional opportunity per trip, or you could organize a whole two-week tour in which people travel around Europe specifically to do eco projects in each city they visit. I would imagine some people would hate it, and some would LOVE it! So give options. But I really think some people would be beyond thrilled to have the chance to travel Europe planting trees here, helping serve the homeless there, helping … I don’t know … ?

    When I was in Iceland, I was shocked that up in Akureyri, at least where I was staying, there were no options for recycling. Being from Seattle, it pains me to just throw things away, but that’s what I did. In cities you visit that don’t have recycling options, you could collect wine bottles, papers, etc., from your travelers, and then find a local place to deposit them. (Or, make it an eco project, telling the hotels you’re visiting that if they collect these things themselves for one month, and when you get there you’ll take it to a facility. Or something.)

    Make a trip to a local environmental organization or facility a part of the trip.

    Arrange with a restaurant to have a candlelight dinner, and turn off the overhead lights! How romantic and atmospheric!

    Hand out a reusable water bottle as part of every tour, to encourage people not to buy plastic bottles. (America’s Test Kitchen tested a bunch and loves the
    Nathan LittleShot Bottle.)

    Spend ten minutes on the bus talking about how people can improve their own carbon imprints while traveling via car — carbonfund dot org slash reduce has a list of ways, including:
    Drive better – Studies have shown up to 30% of the difference in miles per gallon (MPG) is due to driving habits alone. You could save more than a ton of CO2 per year by:
    – Accelerating slowly and smoothly
    – Driving the speed limit
    – Maintaining a steady speed
    – Anticipating your stops and starts

    When helping people figure out how to use the Underground, etc., share a little information about how carpooling and public transportation impact carbon footprint.

    How do people on your tours do laundry? Would it be more water-efficient for everyone to do laundry together a couple of times, rather than wasting so much water with everyone washing out underwear in the sink every night?

    If the hotels you go to don’t use LED lights, donate a light or two on every trip.

    Just a few ideas off the top of my head! Hoping to make it to your Travel as a Political Act talk this weekend — anyone in the area who can see it should definitely go! It’s a good one!

  13. Oh, one more thing I’d meant to include in my answer above, related to the idea of eco-projects, or especially the idea of a dedicated two-week “Carbon Footprint Tour”: Every culture has tasks that are central to their heritage, but which might be succumbing to modernization. If you can find ways to help local producers be able to do their work “the old way”, that both contributes to carbon footprint and gives your travelers a rich, unique, priceless experience. You/your staff would obviously need to research to find these tasks, because I don’t know them offhand, but what comes to mind are ways that farmers use old tools rather than modern machinery, ways to harvest food, hay, whatever. Or winemakers. Or olive oil pressers. And so on and so forth. Things that have been done one way for a very long time, but because they are labor intensive may have to go by the wayside. It seems to me it would be an amazing experience for travelers to be able to help producers in a tangible, hands-on way, and also it would give them a chance to talk with people about their lives, livelihoods, traditions, ways of life, and so on. Yes, there’s labor involved, but hard work is good for the soul!

  14. I appreciate your dilemma. There’s really no way to avoid the carbon cost of the transatlantic flight. You could try to book flights on more efficient planes (currently the Airbus 319 or the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are the most efficient), but there is no guarantee an airline won’t substitute another plane the day of travel. Turboprops are also more fuel efficient than jets, but airlines have been phasing them out in favor of speed. I don’t know anything about the fuel efficiency of cruise ships, but I have my doubts they are much better than planes. Theoretically, ships can be fairly fuel efficient—I just have my doubts about the typical cruise ship.
    I think the main carbon savings are to be had once you cross the ocean. Don’t fly at all once you get to Europe. Trains, busses, and ferries are far more fuel efficient—and far more fun. It is easier to meet interesting people on a train than on a plane. Even passenger cars beat a full plane’s per passenger fuel cost—particularly if you choose an efficient car and load it with four or more people.
    If distances are small, walking and biking are great in Europe. Everything is so close!

  15. Cut your carbon footprint or buy offsets, why not do both?

    Seriously, this post proves that global warming is more religion than science. Alternative fuel boondoggles, regulations, and higher taxes are the god. Fossil fuel is the devil. Carbon offsets are indulgences for those who only want to limit other peoples’ life styles.

    Al Gore is the high priest of global warming. In January 2006 he said that in 10 years we would pass “the point of no return.” Yet another wrong forecast by the warm-mongers. The models are always wrong in their predictions because they greatly exaggerate carbon’s impact. One out of every 85,000 molecules in the atmosphere is CO2 created by humans. Thirty-two of 85,000 molecules are CO2 created naturally. It’s hard to figure how the one molecule would have more influence than the 32, let alone amount to more than a drop in the ocean.

    Speaking of oceans, NOAA uses ships and buoys to measure ocean temperatures. The recent data has been contradictory. NOAA decided to use temperatures from ships, even though ships heat the water. They had to show that the unpredicted warming hiatus was because the oceans absorbed the heat. Before that British researchers used Michael Mann’s “tricks” to “hide the decline.”

    According to ice core data, there have been periods when CO2 levels have been much higher than they are today. They include the start of the six great ice ages. The first two great ice ages started with CO2 levels 100s, maybe 1000s, of times higher than today’s.

    Number Watch maintains a “Warm list” of things supposedly caused by global warming. These include more floods, droughts, and rainfall. Other effects include more avalanches, fewer avalanches, glaciers receding, and glaciers expanding. Global warming will cause the ultimate catastrophe: the collapse of gingerbread houses.

    To be truly scientific, a theory has to be “falsifiable.” Since global warming is attributed to everything wrong, it isn’t falsifiable. That’s religion, not science.

    In the last 80 years climate-related deaths have declined by 98%. Life expectancy, per capita income, and infant mortality have improved several times over. We can keep improving, without worrying about our carbon footprints or buying offsets. The gingerbread houses will survive.

    P.S., in an earlier comment I forgot to mention that Robert Loughlin is the one who said that alligators and turtles used to live in the Arctic Circle. He is a Nobel Laureate in physics.

  16. Dear Rick:
    As a leader of college students to Europe each summer, I too worry about such things. Over time we have left our tour buses behind and travel on trains and subways and walk a lot in cities. We tell our students to not order too much food, bring as light a suitcase as possible, air dry their clothes, don’t litter, etc. I also don’t hesitate to put in a comment or two about being a responsible global citizen and environmental issues, especially when we are in Venice. I hope traveling makes my students see the world more thoroughly and cement personal concerns more deeply.

  17. Rick, buying carbon offset is pretty much just throwing money away, which I don’t see how that accomplishes anything productive. Really it just comes down to how you feel about it because there really isn’t a tangible solution. That is the conundrum of climate change. The solutions are not realistically attainable so doing anything, something or nothing equates to basically the same thing…so you have to find something non-tangible to prove your devotion.

    Seems to me if you are socially responsible, progressive thinking, drive a car that markets itself as green, recycle and educate (kids especially) then you are not as “bad” as everyone else. You can feel good about that, which is all that matters anyway.

  18. Ration flights. One flight allowed per person every 4 years. Yes I know this is unlikely to happen, but we can ration ourselves. I haven’t flown since 2011, when I went on a Palestine/Israel pilgrimage and study tour. Then again I do live in the UK and it’s easy for me to see Europe via train (going to Germany this year). I know there’s plently of nice places to vacation in the US, though I guess it’s not such a change vacationing in your own country as visiting Europe can be.

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