The planet needs us to change the way we live. Consume less, squander less and fly not at all. It’s been 5 years since I’ve been on a plane and I’ve been loving staying closer to home and driving or traveling by train as needed. It’s the least I can do, and I love that this community sees it the same way!

I have given up my dream of traveling the world. I am going to live a simple, happy, and local life. I am from California and my state is burning. Unnecessary travel is not worth what we’re doing to our planet. I shall bloom where I’m planted and appreciate all that I have right here in my backyard.

I am ready to settle into my own immediate environment and explore how my life is while stable and connected to nature. No big deal- it just feels right. I never did this before!! Who knows what else will occur to me while not flying away!

Click the read more link to see the video

I am pledging because I do NOT want to be responsible - to any degree - in creating climate change. I've also stopped eating cows.

I sought to prove that I could drive my VW Id4 from WA to MA and back (via MD). It was a memorable adventure though—between fast-charger rates, overnight accommodations, and tolls—not cheap. I must say it left me wondering how so many of the people I connected with continue to live as though there were no climate or humanitarian crises—how our culture keeps people asleep. You may read about it at jeffrysteele.blogspot.com.

I haven't flown since 2019, it's way past due to take climate change seriously.

I’ve known flying was terrible for the environment, but I kept justifying. It’s become time for stop! Flying will now become something I rarely do!

Although the total contribution of CO2  generated by commercial airliners is 2.8% the effect is much greater due to the altitude at which the CO2  is generated and condensation trails, which form under certain fairly common conditions. These two parameters act like a warm blanket trapping heat that would have otherwise escaped into space. In addition, airlines are allowed to jettison their fuel when emergency landings are required to lighten the load before landing. I have witnessed this first hand while outside under the flight path of the desperate crew.

Why pledge Flight Free for the Climate?

I already live in paradise. I have no need to travel. One of my favorite pastimes is hiking in the local forests near my home.

Thanks for raising the awareness I’ve been trying to raise for over thirty years. I was a touring musician, and airfare was covered by whomever hired me for the gig as part of my contract. I hated how much I was flying but could do nothing about it without jeopardizing my career and the number of gigs I was booking. The upside of my retirement is that I no longer have to fly for work, and therefore for much of anything. The yearlong pledge is an experiment. If it works, I’ll keep extending it annually.

I stopped flying last year and the benefits have vastly outweighed the downsides (if there are any downsides at all!). I got into biking for the first time and I love it - I'm now training for my first long distance bike tour. My carbon footprint is way smaller. I've explored more of my locale. And I love connecting with other people who also avoid flying and enjoy human-powered travel. I don't see any reason to fly this year.

The future of our families (our children, their children,...) is at grave risk from the twin catastrophes of ecological destruction and climate change. But we can't seem to get rid of the collective malaise of helplessness that we seem resigned to. The helplessness is not grounded in fact, but in selfishness, in convenience, in delusion. I refuse to be deluded. I have not been on a plane in 12 years. I have only flown 4 times in my life. I commit to not flying except in a family emergency. Additionally, I live in a Net-Zero home and coach others to decarbonize their lives as well.

Last year was my first flight-free year. At the beginning of 2023 I took monthly trips from Oakland to San Diego, and discovered that the Flix bus drives through the night to get me back home in time to work the next day. I managed to avoid flying even though I had a family wedding to attend on the opposite side of the country. (..) When I learned that air travel burned more fossil fuels than any other form of travel, it was easy to understand WHY I wanted to fly less. How to do it in a way that lets me be with people I love has been the challenge.

I'm an academic who used to fly a lot professionally. Invitations to far away places to talk about science are treated as a sign of academic excellence, but one that comes with a climate cost that many of my colleagues do not want to be reminded of. I've largely cut out my professional flights, declined invitations to travel overseas and replaced some regional trips with train or carpool. I still travel by plane to my native Europe, where our entirely family still lives, prioritizing those infrequent flights with my kids to stay connected their relatives over the high number of professional flights that are normalized in academia.

I've stopped flying since February 2023..(..)..Less is more in so many ways. Sacrifice is beholden to a lot of perspective, as there's so much to gain from not flying. Not everyone agrees, and that's okay - people are weird and live in dual states of conflicting interest all the time. I hope this pledge and story at best remind others to help those around them be true to themselves and what they really care about.

During the pandemic, as my industry shifted to online trainings, I saw how much we could reduce our carbon emissions. By making a pledge not to fly, I've pushed my nonprofit organization to build a regional trainers network that increases skills throughout the US and keeps our collective carbon footprint low. I hope it inspires other networks to do similarly.

I envision a future where our global culture shifts, and air travel (as well as all polluting, unsustainable activities as a whole) is/ are seen as an old fashioned thing: a thing we did before we knew better. And I’m proud to do my part in offering living proof that it is really quite fun on the other side.

My last flight was in Summer 2016 to visit South Korea.  I have not flown since then. 

I used to love flying all over the world and visiting Korea was a regular trip to me without thinking twice. Now, I see differently about traveling by air ever since I have become more aware of living sustainably.  If covid pandemic did not occur, I was pretty sure that I would not have stopped flying frequently.  

I prefer traveling more locally and my desire to visit foreign countries by air has been significantly lowered.  I pledge to fly home only once every couple of years.

What are your alternatives to flying?

Train and videoconferencing, walking, bicycling, poetry, and drL--an un-technology that slows us down instead of speeding us up

I pledge to have less frequent air travel and to be more intentional and grateful for the ability to travel when I do. Primarily as a climate action and also as a way to commit to living fully in my local region, being more connected with my community, and experiencing the beauty and natural wealth of the fragile habitats we reside in. I work on solid waste policy and methane emissions mitigation projects and believe there is no limit to the ways we can all be climate activists!

I have taken a class with Josh Spodek and used a carbon calculator to determine that I had contributed 20 tons in 2023 by flying alone. I realized I wanted to change that. I live in Mexico and my children and grandchildren are in the US so I'm pledging to do one flight a year to Houston and to use busses and trains from there to visit family.

Eliminating even one long-distance flight saves more carbon than my family generates at home and from the car for an entire year. I love lowering my emissions by doing less and saving money! Meanwhile, I am working for systemic change through Citizens' Climate Lobby. We need changes big and small to get to net zero - and we can do it!!

With the exception of one round-trip flight for a family emergency in 2021, we have taken and honored the Flight-Free Pledge since January 2020. Four years! We've been taking cross-country train trips instead, and we recently bought an electric vehicle. Thank you for all that you do!

I plan on flying 1-2 trips only, in 2024, saving them for family needs.  Retired, I can drive my car only every other day, as best as I can, walking to  grocery, drug and park nearby. When someone tells me high handedly, that the plane will fly anyway I respond that I can live with myself, and lighten some of my climate despair. I've been involved in climate actions for 10 plus years in my career, so it’s part of who I am. I've scheduled a train vacation to Glacier National Park in June.

We MUST ALL do something. So happy to find this community.

I strongly believe that everyone, especially those with financial means, must do everything within their personal power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this climate emergency, every action taken to end the use of fossil fuels matters.  I have an all electric car, so I have no excuse not to stop emitting carbon for travel. It's on my bucket list to plot out interim destinations for car charging (and recharging myself from driving) along the 1000 mile road trip to visit my daughter. Embracing slow travel as my new normal makes complete sense, since I am slowing down as I age. It would be nice to live by Emerson's words "it's not the destination, it's the journey".

Seems a no-brainer to me. Until planes can fly with zero emissions, I’m grounded!

I learned from the first XR Talk I attended in 2018 about the emissions of flying. I haven't taken a flight since then. I have reduced my emissions to around 2.5 tonnes CO2e p.a. I visit with family overseas by Zoom.

I flew only a few times when necessary since 1979. I STOPPED FLYING altogether in 2010.

I'm committed to not flying during the climate emergency. Our planet is on fire...I don't need to add any fuel to it! There's so much diversity in my own neighborhood...of people...of plants...of philosophies. If you want to get outside your comfort zone, you can get there by foot! I'd rather build community where I am. I don't need to seek out experiences; I want to be an experience!

Consumers (individuals, organizations, businesses, governments) must promptly minimize their greenhouse gas emissions to bridge the gap while we work on long-term green technology and infrastructure. Less heating and less cooling (none between 13C-30C/55F-85F, https://greenbetween.home.blog). Less driving. Less flying. Less meat-eating. Less population growth (2 children max). Do it yourself. Tenaciously encourage others to do it.

If we are remembered at all by future generations it will not be for our achievements, awards, or the exotic places we visited, it will be for the answer to one question: how did we, personally, deal with climate change. I feel like the whole notion that we need to hop on a plane and travel thousands of miles has been sold to us as nothing more than a bill of goods and a costly one at that. For the past 12 years our family has been enjoying our sub-stratospheric life and discovering endless wonder just a few miles from our house. 

As a witness to the ongoing destruction of our beautiful planet, the fun of traveling to far away places that once filled my soul with delight, is replaced by sadness, guilt, and a conscience that doesn't have room for that kind of pleasure anymore.  I know the problem is systematic, but I fiercely believe that everything we do matters...every. little. thing. I want to make any kind of positive impact I can, and I consider this a small sacrifice in the face of what is happening to our beloved, precious,  Pachamama.  I hope to teach by my example and to inspire others to do the same, the way that others here have inspired me. 

Letter to the Editor, Seattle Times, Monday, December 18,
Instead of “fixing" flying as the author of “Why Flying Is Miserable: And How to Fix It” describes (Nov. 28, Travel), there’s a better way to avoid the misery of aviation. Stay home! Travelers can find alternatives to in-person meetings, such as Zoom and FaceTime calls. Rather than birding in New England, take your binoculars to the Edmonds Pier. Skip that uncomfortable flight to Mexico and order tacos here in town. You’ll keep costs down, too.
Because aviation represents a growing threat to the climate. you’ll also do the planet a favor.

I can no longer justify flying. Any pleasure I would get from traveling to a destination by air would be massively outweighed by the guilt I would feel for the amount of jet fuel being burned. Flying is a luxury not a right. The planet needs our help and this seems like the perfect way to start.

My conscience won't let me do it. I did fly this past June, when I had to be at two conferences four states away on the same day. I would sign the the top tier pledge to not fly during the climate emergency, but I think some air travel will be justified, even in a fully-sustainable economy. The lack of decent (fast) railroad service in North America makes it really difficult. It's the frivolous, optional air travel (along with lots of other expressions of rampant consumerism) that's killing our chances at 1.5 degrees.

Read about JD’s work at jdstillwater.earth

I’m a climate activist and am lucky enough to be able to take the train to visit family.

“I live in the middle of the US (fly-over country, haha) and have family in Oregon, Florida, Massachusetts, and Ireland. This fall, my wife and I are visiting my family in the continental US by car (which we've done many times before). Next year, we have to make one trip to Ireland, then I'm done with flying until the climate emergency ends or an airplane fuel that doesn't worsen the climate crisis becomes available.”

On October 30th, 2023 the Fallon Forum radio show spoke with Flight Free campaigner Dan Castrigano about climate, aviation, and the proposed Des Moines Airport expansion.

I cut down on flying two decades ago when climate science became already clear enough (and when flying also became ever less fun). With the advent of virtual meetings etc it’s become even less essential. I think I’ve flown twice in that time.

Having worked on NASA projects for decades and being sensitive about pollution, I started reducing my air travel long ago. The pandemic added more incentive to reduce air travel, and I've only been on a plane once since then, to see family.
When friends talk about their trips around the world to look at different places and things, I cringe. There's plenty to do closer to home; international travel should be a rarity, not a hobby.

In 2018, a family member and I went to Italy and The Netherlands to visit friends and family. When we returned, I asked him if he had enjoyed the trip. He told me he hadn't because of the carbon footprint. I replied that I had made an additional donation above and beyond my monthly subscription to Treesisters in order to offset the flights. He explained that until carbon was being removed from the air, no amount of offsets would suffice. I haven't flown since. Instead I explore the beautiful state that I live in, by bus. I feel disappointed that our rail and bus systems have degraded to the point where it's hard to travel efficiently to other states. But as long as I'm respecting this breathtakingly beautiful planet that honors and provides for our needs, I feel content.

I love the beauty of the earth and cannot fathom that I might be a partner in its demise. Thus, I have turned down a job that requires me to fly. It is a good decision.

I was inspired a few years ago by Greta Thunberg who said she would never fly again. I already have solar panels and an electric car. I want to do my part. I am a hiker but it is getting so hot in Arizona I haven’t hiked all year. Our lives are changing so much I feel we need to make big changes at the individual level and global level.

I generally travel by city bus while home. I was a world traveler but my last flight was in 2019 and I vow to only fly for emergencies that require it. I have taken the train from Bellingham WA to Milwaukee WI. I met a lot of interesting people. We need to improve our train system.

I'm a US citizen currently residing in China. Travel in China on today's modern China high speed trains is more convenient, comfortable, less expensive and far less troublesome than is flying. (…) Post-COVID, more ocean freight lines are now offering passenger options for long distance travel. Boats and trains are the best options environmentally.

My wife and I have always been environmentally conscious and have walked the walk long before society adopted certain important environmental behaviors. Why, I asked myself, do I embrace all these environmentally friendly activities when I still fly and pump out enormous amounts of CO2 as a result? This decision not to travel by air has given me a greater appreciation for where I live: the most beautiful area of the most beautiful state where we grow the most beautiful, tasty, and healthy food in all the world. Why would I go elsewhere and despoil our beautiful planet?

I gave up air travel in 2002 because of the very high climate pollution per passenger from air travel. The science is clear that we must cut our climate pollution by 50% or more by 2030 - that's the minimum needed - and eliminating or reducing air travel is one of the solutions we urgently need.

After many years of our former State Senator, Rob Hogg, urging us not to fly, my wife and I decided to not fly anywhere unless we absolutely had to (death, emergency). We will drive wherever we need to go, as well as looking into train and bus travel whenever feasible. We were so happy to read the article "Planes, Trains, and Decarbonization: Is a future without air travel possible?" by Dayton Martindale in the Summer 2023 issue of the Sierra magazine. It said what we had been thinking

While it's clear that oil corps are the huge producers of CO2, they aren't anything without consumers. We have agency to refuse. Bonus points is that by pledging to not fly during the pandemic, we can prevent never-ending variants of COVID from spreading globally.

I still get to where I need to be without any of the stress related to airline travel, while doing my part intrinsically in reducing my carbon footprint.

My husband and I stopped mostly flying in 1995. We traveled a lot for our work and used Greyhound and Amtrak, with an occasional flight, when it was the only option. Now we tell people we don't fly except in a family emergency. We are strong advocates of Amtrak and encourage people to take the time, relax, read, meet new people, and give extra time for delays.

I am 51 years old and I am pledging to not fly the rest of my life. I don’t have to fly for work. I live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula so I don’t have to fly anywhere for beautiful forests and beaches. When I do travel I drive using a hybrid vehicle.

Jon read about Flight Free in this article: https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/essays/should-i-stop-flying/

I stopped flying in 2012, the day after we interviewed Klaus Lackner, a pioneer in carbon capture. This is just a minute and a half to explain why: https://youtu.be/_4KnK9hdnxw

Richard Reiss is Executive Director of The City Atlas and developed a cooperative game that shows what it takes to decarbonize NYC. It's in use at universities including Carnegie Mellon, CMU Africa, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Yale, Brown, and University College Dublin, and now also in 12 public high schools in NYC. They are working to replicate this method for every city, to help secondary schools meet the climate literacy goals of the UNFCCC Article 6 and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.

I appreciate the work of Flight Free USA to encourage us to stand together and refrain from flying as a conscientious act to reduce climate change. It really only took seeing the pledges of others to make me realize that I too no longer wish to take an occasional flight as a "normal" mode of travel. Thank you!

Our living planet - as we know it - is dying. Trying everything I know to do my part. Not flying is low-hanging fruit.
Last flight - 2018.

The climate crisis demands immediate action from every person, family, company, and government on the planet, but most especially from those who live in wealthier countries. Recreational flying is one of the worst actions people take against the environment, due to all the emissions created by airplanes. That is why my husband and I pledge to go flight-free for the remainder of our lives. We will only travel via more sustainable methods, and we will find many amazing wonders right in our local area!

I cannot, in good conscience, continue to fly while knowing that climate change is affecting our planet and my lifestyle is having a detrimental impact on it.

Personally, I am shocked that the vast majority of people who both call themselves 'environmentalists' and claim to be concerned about, and working on, the issues of our climate crisis refuse to even discuss reduction of air travel.
We cannot measure how the climate crisis is being addressed by the far too often quoted hollow words of leaders and politicians. The only thing that counts is substantive action.

I believe any interurban passenger flight shorter than 2,000 miles should not need to exist, and that reliable, efficient alternatives should be readily accessible to all. As a resident of one of America's heartland extraction states, I argue it is our imperative not only to fight for the earth, but intimately experience it as well. Here's to a ground-bound 2023!

We have watched California and the world transform during the 15 years we have been here. Drought and horrible wildfires that destroyed our favorite State Park (Malibu Creek) have only grown worse and worse during our time here. We do whatever we can to make the situation better. Not Flying is the least we can do!

We think living more sustainably will mean living more sparingly, but in fact we might learn to live more expansively. I began to make more sustainable changes in my life—I experienced how none of the changes were particularly hard and all of them increased the quality of my life. Making conscious choices imbued my daily tasks with grace and have helped me take a deeper pleasure in living. My last flight was in 2013.

We pledge to fly less and only to occasionally visit family in Europe. Friends in the USA can meet us at Amtrak! We are fortunate to live in a cycling town which allows us to use our car less. This is just one of the ways we contribute to the cause of climate justice and to a better world for those who come after us.

I really dislike flying commercial airlines (and LOVE the planet!), so this is a no-brainer! But I love to travel...

My grandchildren deserve a world without climate change. I plan to travel by train.

There’s pride to be had in rising up to the biggest challenge of our day and making an individual contribution. So that when your kids grow up and ask you “where were you when the world was falling apart”, you’ll have a story. What greater purpose than that can there be.

I pledged to not fly from 2019 through 2023 in order to reduce global carbon emissions, reduce fossil fuel consumption, reduce global spread of pandemics, and reduce my chances of catching a virus.

Why flight free?

As we say on the Big Island: I stay here!

I will Amtrak or stay put. I've also hitchhiked extensively and can do more. All of my needs can be fulfilled within North America. Burning fossil fuels to leave the continent is ridiculous.

I look at our planet as a gift from GOD and not flying is a form of honoring GODS gift. Our air, water and soil are gifts to be stewarded. Christians and other faith communities should be leading the way on changing our cultural systems as a form of worship.

There is magic to traveling patiently and slowly. I don't have a car, so I bike, walk, use public transit or rideshare to get where I need to go. This likely means I go fewer places, but it also means I actually process my location in the world, where I am going, and the materiality of getting there. It's only natural to extend these habits to avoiding flying.

I have not travelled by plane since 2019. My reasons for using other means of transportation are not only concern for the climate. It is my hope that if more people use trains and other forms of transport, the change in popularity might also be followed by changes in infrastructure and costs.

I haven't flown since learning of Greta Thunberg's refusal to fly across the Atlantic, opting instead to travel by sailboat, back in 2019. If she can find climate friendly ways to get where she needs to go, so can I! Employers want me to come to company parties, for which I'm supposed to travel by plane. Or they want me to travel for quarterly planning, other such things. I simply say no and explain why I feel that damaging the climate to go to a party or participate in a planning exercise is frivolous, and so far no one has pressed me further.

I have flown once since 2018. I drive an EV about 2,500 miles a year and am currently planning my second trip to New York via Amtrak. The train ride from Cincinnati is about 18 hours, but traveling in a sleeper car is truly enjoyable, providing time to read, think, sleep and just watch the country pass by.

There aren’t many things I can do to help regarding climate change as one individual. This, for me, was a no brainer. I thought it would feel like a huge sacrifice since I have historically been a world traveler. Nope.

I think some people might see not flying at will as a sacrifice. But if it is, it's one that you can only make if you are privileged enough to have the option of flying in the first place. And it's a relatively small step I can take to try to mitigate what I've already done.

I am flight free this year for my son’s future! Our goal is to fly no more than one trip every other year. This is our off year.

I am human. I am ambulatory, nomadic, and curious. I live in the West, but my family lives in the East. That's what Skype and Facetime are for. Any true relationship accommodates distance…

People think of planes bringing them to distant loved ones, forgetting that flying in general makes them far away in the first place, relying on planes to fix the problem that planes created.

When I look back at the few times in my 75-year old life that I've flown, most of those times were really for entertainment, disguised as "cultural enrichment". These travels didn't make me a happier person in the long haul; giving my energy to the place I live and love does that for me!

We can't “individual” our way out of the #ClimateEmergency, but once one truly understands the real nature of the emergency, reducing or eliminating jet travel is simply something one has to do…I've been involved in climate activism for some years now, and as a member of ScientistRebellion.com, I've engaged in non-violent direct actions for climate justice including the recent campaign against private and luxury jet travel.

I commit to be Flight Free for 2023!

I stopped flying in 2008 after looking at my individual carbon footprint! This clearly was the biggest change I could make. “Living Lightly” as we happily call it has also led to all sorts of other changes and usually increasing joy.

I won't fly in 2023 because of the climate crisis. A long time ago, back in 2014, I resolved not to fly unless “truly necessary” and then found to my shock that none of my flights, neither for work or family or pleasure, turned out to be strictly necessary.

Parke Wilde is an academic who co-founded Flying Less, an initiative focused on reducing academia’s carbon footprint: https://sites.tufts.edu/flyingless/

Dreams and imagination put into action create a better world - we don't have to accept the status quo.

I travel now by car or by train (if possible), and because I don't plan to fly anymore I didn't renew my passport last year.

I don't want jet fuel and its exhaust poisoning the atmosphere and causing environmental disasters. I'll take Amtrak even though it takes a lot longer, it’s the most climate friendly way to travel.

Why did you pledge Flight Free 2023 and what are your travel alternatives to flying?

I’m retired so there is less hurry to get places. Looking forward to seeing the land I’m traveling through.

The climate reality necessitates a collective commitment to reducing our collective greenhouse gas emissions. It starts with me.

I stopped driving until EVs charged with renewable energy were a possibility. I won't fly until the same is possible with air travel.

I want to reduce my negative impact on global climate change as much as possible.

I'm pledging to fly less because I can't fly in good conscience, but I also live far from family. I've made the decision to only fly to visit family from now on--meaning no more vacations to far-off places--and to use trains instead when possible. It's a sacrifice, but I feel it's a sacrifice more people need to make.

I purchased a travel trailer in 2021 and will limit my travels to North America until there are alternatives for international travel that do not use excessive amounts of fuel.

There are so many beautiful places right here, why would I foul the earth by flying? The earth is giving us many messages right now, and she is crying out for us to focus on our needs above our wants.

I couldn't claim to be concerned about the climate crisis and continue to fly. I can't expect to improve transit options across the US if I continue to fly.

Let's all run, bike, train, and carpool for a better future!

While I know that systemic change, not just individual actions, is what's necessary to turn things around, I do think that we can all do our part to help make that happen. This is especially important for people who live in parts of the world responsible for historic emissions contributions, such as myself.

There is so much to do and see in our region, which is the Pacific Northwest.

This pledge was a great next step for me to go flightless for the next year knowing I have the capability to reduce my own carbon emissions through my own actions.

I think it would be wonderful for these “flight free” campaigns to talk more about people such as myself, who have made major reductions but not eliminated flying completely. Particularly in the US, where we have a vast and diverse country but little access to a Europe-style train system. It’s not perfect by any stretch, though I think the climate crisis needs lots of people involved with imperfect solutions!

Preserving life on earth is more important to me than being able to travel. And by staying home I also save lots of money which I use to support causes I believe in. A win-win.

Why submit yourself to the indignity of flying and contribute to the greatest crisis facing humanity when you can simply give yourself more time to actually ENJOY traveling on a train, bus, or even bicycle?

Flying is emblematic of the excesses that are causing worldwide emissions to continue to grow. I cannot be complicit.

The train from New York to Florida marked the beginning of my flying diet. And our family loved it. Here's why I'm cutting out flying at every opportunity I can.

I have been drawn to climate action since 2008, the year my twins were born. I stopped flying for work in 2021 and for pleasure in 2019.

Our immediate action will reduce the chaos of climate warming.

I stepped onto an aircraft for the last time in 2012. I still travel mostly from New England to the Southern States but NEVER off the ground. I miss it not.

When my sister declared herself to be flight-free, that got me started thinking about it. I would say that I’ve contributed more than my fair share to the carbon emissions problem.

My focus is on contentment where I am. The dissonance of knowing we need to curtail emissions immediately and drastically while

I feel it is imperative that I do what I can do to help protect our biosphere for its natural communities and future generations of our species as well.

I stopped flying in 2019 to better align my actions with my values. Since then I've learned just how amazing local travel is and how it gives me the opportunity to become so much more connected to a place.

Four years ago I took a pledge to stop flying to reduce my carbon footprint and calm my intense climate anxiety. I believe the climate emergency needs an “all hands on deck” approach- individuals, towns, government and corporations ALL need to act NOW! Being #flightfree is the most impactful personal thing I can do. At first I thought it would be a sacrifice—instead it has enhanced my love for travel and our beautiful country, and it brings me immense peace and joy.

In 2015, I studied abroad in Copenhagen during my junior year of college. Later that year I calculated my emissions and learned that my flight to Denmark and back had a bigger negative impact than everything else I had done that year combined. I haven’t flown since.

While switching from plane to rail meant a longer journey, and more planning, Thagard says she's enjoyed seeing the US by train.

“It makes you start focusing on your local places -- what can we do to keep our local places beautiful -- instead of having to fly somewhere else, to see someone else's beautiful local place.”

"I've been flying back and forth to see [my family] for decades now, and so deciding to go flight free meant a real change of life for me, but I love it."

My main modes of transportation are by electric bicycle and electric car.

Michael Winkler served 12 years as a member of the Arcata City Council and as Mayor, and was an outspoken opponent of subsidies and other support for the expansion of our local airport.

I stopped flying in 2018 but this year was the first time I had heard about the pledge. It is also the first time that I realized that the climate crisis will now dramatically alter my 50 year old children's lives, not just my grandchildren's lives.

We all must do all we can to reduce our individual and collective carbon footprint. We must also advocate at the state and federal level for more environmentally-friendly infrastructure, in particular high-speed rail.

We need to take care of our earth, people! It's like If someone is very sick but you don't do anything. Earth Is very sick and we need to take action!

Flying airplanes is not fair.

I've been "flight free" since 1996 and have no plans to change!

I have come to realize that due to my family situation I won't be able to avoid ever flying again, but I will continue to be very mindful about the environmental impact. Instead of flying in 2021, I hope to do several hiking trips with my dogs in California that I had to cancel in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

I know a lot of people feel that they love the Caribbean and its beautiful islands. So let’s all love the Caribbean enough to avoid contributing to its disappearance.

I became a father in 2021. I have no idea what the world will look like 10, 20, or 50 years from now. And when my son grows up and asks me about the unfolding climate emergency, I want to look him in the eye and tell him that I did everything I could.

For a livable planet, I can miss the places that were still on my travel bucket list. I’d rather know those places exist – and that they and their people are safe, healthy, and protected – than ever see a single one of them. Of course, the reality is more nuanced, but quitting flying is still a simple, tangible, impactful way to participate in that hopeful future. Flight Free 2021, here we come.

I stopped flying 12 years ago, and now my much-improved “bucket list” includes local hiking and kayaking and working with activist groups to clean up the air in my region.

By being a part of the Flight Free 2021 campaign, we can have a different message: when individuals join together and shun air travel, industry and the government will need to help deliver solutions. This includes more efficient and affordable ground transport and the eventual electrification of air travel.

Unlike airline mileage plans, Flight Free is the gift that keeps on giving. I’ve learned how to stay home, discovered the joy of locally grown, plant-based food, and I finally get to know my own backyard.

In early adulthood, I thought it the most normal thing to jump on a plane to Scotland to visit friends that I’d made in Saudi, for instance. Now I understand that I have had more than my fair share of all that carbon emissions craziness

I drove home, staring out the window in awe at the landscapes I would have only looked upon impassively if I’d flown. I felt like I was seeing the country for the first time, even though I’d flown over it so many times. And maybe that’s one of the biggest benefits of not flying--you realize just how much you are a part of the earth when you exist on its level, not hovering above.

I am a huge advocate for rail as it is way more fuel efficient than cars or planes.

I am pledging to be flight free in 2021 because I believe that burning hydrocarbons in our outer atmosphere is contributing to the destruction of this very delicate film of air that protects us from the sun's more harmful rays.

I've chosen to not fly during the climate emergency - I'm not waiting for climate policy to tell me this or tax me for it. There are frequent debates about the importance of individual climate action vs. system change. For me they are two sides of the same coin. I wouldn’t be able to show up for one without the other. Many of us are already embracing the cultural shift that needs to happen to transition off of fossil fuels and we have good stories to share in this Flight Free gallery. Welcome!