Brits’ Staycations trend helped cut down on carbon emissions

A new report released in the UK indicates that the decline in travel related to this year’s recession has caused toxic greenhouse gas emissions in the UK to drop by 2 percent. The Climate Change Committee for the UK has released statistics which indicate that the 2 per cent decline in CO2 emissions is directly linked to Brits staying at home during this season’s holidays.

Because of this year’s harsh economic climate, many Brits were forced to forego annual holidays and opt to ‘staycation’ at home. According to the CCC, that caused carbon emissions to go down;aiding in the fight against global climate change. Because of less travel demands, airlines have cut back on scheduling flights resulting in less fuel consumption and less dangerous emissions being released into the ozone layer. Therefore, fewer travelers heading abroad translates to fewer holes in the ozone layer.

Although greenhouse gas emissions have declined a little bit, the Committee clearly stated that currently, the UK has not been doing enough to aggressively curb climate change. The announcement comes after the Loughborough University’s research team surveyed several UK travelers. The survey results collected indicated that less than 30 per cent of travelers would be willing to give up airline flights during the next 12 months in order to curb emissions. UK residents did, however, say that they would walk more and attempt to cut electricity use.