The Environmental Impact of the Thanksgiving Travel Spree
Last year over 55 million Americans traveled home for Thanksgiving, reports AAA. 49 million were by driving and 5 million were by flying. This year, numbers are expected to be even higher. As Americans are living farther away from home than ever, this trend has started to cause some concerns among environmentalists. With an average occupancy of 1.5 persons per trip, reports the Department of Energy, holiday travel has a ways to go before it is sustainable. How bad is the Thanksgiving trip you ask? Here, we'll dive deep into the environmental impact of our yearly commute home. We'll look at the carbon emissions of the average drive and flight home for Thanksgiving.
CO₂ Emissions by State
The average American will emit 200 pounds of carbon while driving home for Thanksgiving. This would take an adult tree 2 years to absorb.
While electric vehicles are increasing in popularity, with 7% of Americans saying they own an electric car, the vast majority still run on diesel or gasoline. The average emission rate for a gasoline or diesel vehicle is 22 lbs (10 kgs) of carbon dioxide per hour (10 kgs). With an average drive home lasting 4.6 hours, the average American's Thanksgiving trip home produces 202 pounds of carbon, which requires 2 years for a tree to absorb.
CO₂ Emissions by State
| State | Hours to drive home | CO₂ Emitted in lbs | Rank | Years required for a tree to capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2.7 | 118.8 | 8.0 | 2 |
| Alaska | 4.6 | 202.4 | 25.0 | 2 |
| Arizona | 5.9 | 259.6 | 43.0 | 3 |
| Arkansas | 6.8 | 299.2 | 48.0 | 3 |
| California | 4.1 | 180.4 | 18.0 | 2 |
| Colorado | 2.6 | 114.4 | 6.0 | 2 |
| Connecticut | 4.4 | 193.6 | 22.0 | 2 |
| Delaware | 1.5 | 66 | 2.0 | 1 |
| Florida | 5.8 | 255.2 | 41.0 | 3 |
| Georgia | 5.7 | 250.8 | 39.0 | 3 |
| Hawaii | 4.6 | 202.4 | 26.0 | 2 |
| Idaho | 4.6 | 202.4 | 27.0 | 2 |
| Illinois | 4.7 | 206.8 | 32.0 | 2 |
| Indiana | 5.9 | 259.6 | 44.0 | 3 |
| Iowa | 3.7 | 162.8 | 16.0 | 2 |
| Kansas | 3.5 | 154 | 13.0 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 3.2 | 140.8 | 12.0 | 2 |
| Louisiana | 4.9 | 215.6 | 33.0 | 3 |
| Maine | 4.6 | 202.4 | 28.0 | 2 |
| Maryland | 4.2 | 184.8 | 19.0 | 2 |
| Massachusetts | 2.7 | 118.8 | 9.0 | 2 |
| Michigan | 2.6 | 114.4 | 7.0 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 3.6 | 158.4 | 14.0 | 2 |
| Mississippi | 4.5 | 198 | 23.0 | 2 |
| Missouri | 5 | 220 | 34.0 | 3 |
| Montana | 4.6 | 202.4 | 29.0 | 2 |
| Nebraska | 2.7 | 118.8 | 10.0 | 2 |
| Nevada | 5 | 220 | 36.0 | 3 |
| New Hampshire | 5 | 220 | 35.0 | 3 |
| New Jersey | 3.7 | 162.8 | 17.0 | 2 |
| New Mexico | 6.1 | 268.4 | 45.0 | 3 |
| New York | 3.6 | 158.4 | 15.0 | 2 |
| North Carolina | 5.8 | 255.2 | 42.0 | 3 |
| North Dakota | 2 | 88 | 3.0 | 1 |
| Ohio | 6.1 | 268.4 | 46.0 | 3 |
| Oklahoma | 4.5 | 198 | 24.0 | 2 |
| Oregon | 4.3 | 189.2 | 20.0 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 5.7 | 250.8 | 40.0 | 3 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 44 | 1.0 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 6.5 | 286 | 47.0 | 3 |
| South Dakota | 4.6 | 202.4 | 30.0 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 2.5 | 110 | 5.0 | 2 |
| Texas | 4.3 | 189.2 | 21.0 | 2 |
| Utah | 4.6 | 202.4 | 31.0 | 2 |
| Vermont | 5 | 220 | 37.0 | 3 |
| Virginia | 3 | 132 | 11.0 | 2 |
| Washington | 2.2 | 96.8 | 4.0 | 1 |
| West Virginia | 6.8 | 299.2 | 49.0 | 3 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | 220 | 38.0 | 3 |
| Wyoming | 14 | 616 | 50.0 | 6 |
Above is the average Thanksgiving trip duration by state along with their corresponding CO₂ produced and how many years it takes one adult tree to absorb that much CO₂.
Environmental Impact of Flying
Flying home for Thanksgiving will require 4 trees to offset the carbon produced, which is double then driving.
The average flight home will produce 396 pounds of carbon per passenger. It will take 4 trees to offset this much carbon.
How to Reduce Your Thanksgiving Carbon Footprint
We hope this piece helps you consider your holiday travel spree in a different way. While the journey home is important, there are ways to mitigate the environmental impact:
1. Take the train: If you live in an area where there’s a train, use it.
2. Carpool: Have a friend who is from your hometown nearby? Ask if you guys can carpool.
3. Carbon Offsetting: You can simply plant 1 or 2 trees to offset the carbon produced by your trip. The trees need to mature for 3 years before they can absorb this much carbon. It costs $1 to plant a tree with One Tree Planted. Click here to make a donation. Each dollar you donate corresponds to a tree.
Share this piece with a friend or colleague to help the environment out today.
Methodology
We took the average Thanksgiving trip duration data from a study done by Gunther Mazda and multiplied it by the average CO₂ emitted per hour driving from Thunder Said Energy to figure out the average carbon produced by state. We then divided that number by the average CO₂ absorption rate of a tree from the Department of Energy to obtain the offset time required.
Sources
- https://www.gunthermazda.com/thanksgiving-turkey-travel-times/
- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-average-flight-length-hours-The-graph-above-illustrates-that-the-average-flight_fig3_2178852
- https://www.carbonindependent.org/22.html
- https://thundersaidenergy.com/downloads/co2-emissions-per-hour-of-activity/
- https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/03/17/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe
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