Digging for oil displaces and kills communities, cultures, and wildlife. Pollution kills people and wildlife by poisoning air, land, and water. Leading people to live far apart tears apart families, communities, and nations as cars do with cities. 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. Planes made a virus into a global pandemic overnight.
I pledge not flying in 2023 because not flying in 2022 made it far better than it would have been, just like 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and most of 2016, when I first challenged myself to go a year without flying. I expected the worst year of my life. Instead, it's led to more time with family, more community, more control over my career, more savings, more adventure, more connection with other cultures instead of polluting them, and I could go on. Who would have guessed?!?!
It replaced feeling entitled with feeling humble. Life isn't about what I'm missing out there but what I create, wherever I am, whomever I'm with.
Joshua Spodek PhD MBA
Bio | TEDx talks | Podcast | Favorite blog posts
Systemic change begins with personal change, which you'll love. Some of my changes:
Months with my apartment off the grid in Manhattan 8 (and counting)
Loads of garbage per year: 1 in '17, 1 in '18, 1 in '19, 0 in '20, 0 in '21, 0 in '22 so far
Days picking up at least one piece of litter: 2,067 and counting
Years not flying: 6 and counting
Average electric bill in 2022: $0.52
Annual carbon emissions: about 1 ton
Daily burpees: 202,085 and counting
Daily blog posts: 4,833 and counting
Gratitude emails in a week: 70
Resting pulse: ~50 bpm
Daily average spent on fitness: < $0.20