The best New Year's Resolution?
New Year’s Resolutions usually focus on the things that can benefit us. But what about making a resolution that’s as good for the planet as it is for you?
It’s the time of year that thoughts turn to improving our health and well-being, or recovering from an indulgent festive period.
New Year’s Resolutions usually focus on the things that can benefit us. But what about making a resolution that’s as good for the planet as it is for you?
The Flight Free Challenge asks people to take one year off flying. One year, no flights, but plenty of adventure. It’s a way to slash your emissions, break a habit, and discover other ways of travelling. Because not flying doesn’t mean not travelling – there are so many ways to discover new places that don’t involve aeroplanes.
The wellbeing benefits of going flight-free
It’s clear that the Flight Free Challenge helps the planet through cutting our travel emissions. But how does it benefit you? It can help in more ways than you think.
Avoiding airport stress helps you feel calmer and more present. Aside from the excitement of your destination, there’s not much benefit from being in an airport, with sterile waiting areas and unnatural lighting. Train stations have more character, are more connected to the surrounding city, and bring in more natural light, which helps with calmness and boosts your mood.
Taking flights off the table actually helps with your FOMO. Rather than feel like you’re missing out, it makes your travel choices easier, because you have a shorter menu to pick from, and that can be mentally freeing. Simplifying things is good for our mental health.
Avoiding the recycled air and cramped seats of an aircraft is also better for your physical health, and knowing you’re part of the solution gives a huge positive glow!
Benefits for the wider community
Going flight-free gives a huge amount to others too. Communities around airports will benefit from quieter skies, and suffer less stress and health issues as a result (studies have shown that living near airports increases your chances of heart disease and stroke by up to 20%).
Fewer flights will help to protect wildlife, including the insect and bird populations that are harmed by airport noise and runway lights.
And on a global scale, reducing greenhouse gas emissions helps the global community by reducing the impacts of climate change that we are seeing at home and around the world.
The benefit to your travel experience
Slow travel gives a more enriching experience. Travelling by train is time well spent, with time to read, sleep, work or watch the world go by in comfort – not the quick packed-in rush of air travel.
You benefit from extra destinations along the way, either enjoyed from the window, or through interchanges. A rail or coach trip is less hectic, less stressful, and grounded in all senses of the word.
Could you take a Flight Free Year?
Taking a flight-free year is a fantastic way to significantly reduce your own emissions, experience travel in a new and positive way, and be part of a radical movement for change. In fact, it was a New Year’s Resolution that kick-started the whole flight-free movement.
You can find out more and sign up at flightfree.co.uk/#take-the-challenge, or follow on social media @FlightFreeUK.