We have /c/fuckcars but no /c/fuckplanes. Yet a lot of the same arguments apply. They cause air pollution (roughly double the amount per km traveled), noise pollution and they (airports) take up a lot of space near dense living areas. Sure, some places can practically only be visited by plane, just like some places can practically only be visited by car. But people don’t consider not having your holiday that far away or giving pushback on a busines trip that should have been an online meeting. Besides work-from-home being encouraged, work-from-home-country should be too.
Cars need to be discouraged in favor of busses, trams and trains. Planes nees to be discouraged in favor of high-speed trains, staycations and hopefully new alternatives like modern sailboats or electric planes.
You don’t know enough about boat building if you think a modern sailboat is a good idea ecologically. Boat building uses nasty chemicals, very harsh solvents and produce ginormous waste. A modern sailboat has a gigantic environmental footprint. I have a 50 year old sailboat (with a modern outboard) but I never try to fool myself into thinking I’m making a recreational choice that’s good for the environment. I’m just out enjoying the day and trying not to think about the bottom paint poisoning the lake, the microplastics sloughing off the oxidized gelcoat, and the impact of the fire retardant the textile industry dumps into all the fabric I’m relaxing on, to name a few. Nice way to spend the day though!
Fair. I’m not a maritime expert. I just get excited about new energy harvesting and propulsion tech.
Sails are quite good at energy harvesting and propulsion but you won’t find any certified organic growers of fibres for sail cloth.
Well the materials matter a bit. But for example wind mill vanes are also made out of horrible, hard to recycle materials. Yet over their lifespan the amount of oil and gas that doesn’t have to get burned makes up for it.
Isn’t the same true for cars, planes, trains and even bicycles?
No.
Hate to break it to you: It is. For bicycles of course the effect is very small, negligible even. But for example, tires are pretty bad. The ballast and sleepers of train tracks are contaminated and classified as special waste in my country.