There are no two ways about it, flying is bad for the environment, as explained by Ru Hartwell, project director of Treeflights.com:

When we travel in an aeroplane we use loads of aviation fuel. In a few
hours we each burn up hundreds of litres of a non-renewable resource that it
took the earth (and the sun) millions of years to make. On top of this we
are producing a lot of CO2 which we all know is the main culprit for
global warming.

There’s no way of avoiding it, flying is inherently environmentally
destructive and we shouldn’t do any more of it than we really have to.

Planting a tree, on the other hand, is an ecologically constructive thing to do. Trees use the sun’s energy to absorb CO2, taking it out of the atmosphere (where it’s really harmful) and turning it into this wonderful, renewable material that we call wood. Trees encourage biodiversity and are also fantastic air purifiers.

Ru has been planting trees for more than 20 years and has so far run up a tally of 17,000. His eco-powered smallholding, 1100 feet up in the Cambrian mountains of Mid-Wales is now well covered with organic deciduous woodland.

He says: ‘I have a little boy of two – I plant for his kids.

The aviation industry is not going to come to a grinding halt any day soon, and so Ru Hartwell has set up Treeflights.com, a project that will give airline passengers the means to make their flights just a little bit greener. This is by no means a quick-fix, and it won’t mean that your flight becomes “carbon neutral”. Trees take time to grow. But from the moment your tree is planted, it will tirelessly work to repair the damage that your flight has caused.

The cost to plant a tree with Treeflights.com is £10.

Via: icWales.co.uk

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