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Today, Michael Mandiberg is launching Real Costs, "a Firefox plug-in that inserts emissions data into travel related e-commerce website." Really. This beta version adds CO2 emissions data to websites like Orbitz and for airlines, while later versions will work with car directions, car rental, and shipping websites. Videographer Kelly Loudenberg spoke with Michael about the Real Costs and what he hopes people will get out of the information.
And here's a screenshot that shows what the Real Cost plugin looks like in action - you can see how emissions compare between a flight and taking the bus or train (watch the video and you'll hear Michael's thoughts about how this information can be especially useful with respect to shorter flights).
Michael developed the Real Costs with the help from an ecological adviser at Columbia's Earth Institute and others as well as Eyebeam, Rhizome, CUNY, and the College of Staten Island.
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Hm. It's not like you have a lot of options travelling coast to coast. All that plug in does is show that only viable mode to get from LA to NYC is by plane, and that you should feel guilty about that fact.
Right, and Michael Mandiburg agrees and is not advocating that anyone take a cross-country bus ride. But, as he says in the video, the data might make you change your mind about other trips, like NYC-Boston, where the amount of time you spend going through security, waiting, boarding and getting off a plane might equal the time it takes for a train to get there.
Be wary of per-capita charts that include China.
This is really useful. Now I know that if I need to travel to see my parents in california for two days, I should really ask for 10 days off work instead of going for the weekend.
That way I can take the amtrak or greyhound, both of which have a high level of quality and comfort. And it's only 5 days (120 hours) in each direction instead of 5.5 hours.
Yea, 'real costs' can blow me. Informative yet useless.
Maybe the point is that people should be traveling much less. I'm sorry if your family lives on the other side of the continent but you made that choice. I recall that before airline deregulation the airfares were about the same as they are now in real dollars which means they were more than twice as expensive. In my comfortable upper middle class upbringing we didn't take six vacations by plane per year. I have to wonder if numbers like these were factored into last week's post about energy efficient New York is.
Paul, did you watch the entire video? If you did, I would worry about your comprehension abilities.
I hope this inspires someone to create a subway from NYC to Chicago.
Then again flying from O'Hare to LaGuardia in one hour cannot be beat.
What a shame carbon offsets are a totally useless gimmick.
It's too bad that price is such a factor in deciding how to travel. I'm all for reducing my carbon footprint, but the train to Boston is $165 round trip - more if you use Acela. Flights to Boston can be had for less than $100 roundtrip, a bargain if you also take the subway/AirTrain to JFK. Flying even cheaper than renting a car.
flying to boston, cheaper? i went last weekend for $30 round trip on the FUNGWAH Bus. fungwahbus.com
you can't beat that.
doesn't the fungwah bus explode every now and then?
My friend was in a fungwah bus that lost a wheel. One of the wheels and tire from the double back axle came off and spun in to the woods.
'we'll never know': It was actually my family's choice to move back o Chile and come to California once a year. It is also my choice to go visit them once a year during the same time. So you can gladly take your other 5 trips and go suck a dick.
adam: you work for greenpeace. just because something is supposed to raise environmental awareness doesn't mean it's useful.