Plane Stupid

Flying is "plane stupid"; And this is a website with lots of information on why. It wants to bring the aviation industry down to earth!

Here are 10 reasons why Plane Stupid wants us to campaign against flying:

1. Aviation is the fastest growing cause of climate change
Despite myths propagated by the airline industry, aviation already accounts for 13% of the UK’s contribution to climate change.
2. Aviation creates massive noise pollution
Living under the flight path is like living on a motorway. Over 1 million people live under the flight paths to the Heathrow and many have to endure a plane flying over every 45 seconds.
3. Aviation is mostly unnecessary
45% of air journeys in Europe are less than 500km – about the distance from London to the Scottish border.These journeys are to destinations easily reachable by train and bus, which are both around ten times less polluting.
4. Airport expansion will destroy important heritage sites
Across the country over one hundred historical buildings are at risk from airport expansion. Philip Venning, the secretary of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), established by William Morris in 1877, said of airport expansion: "This is potentially the biggest single number of destructions of historic buildings in living memory."
5. Aviation expansion will destroy ancient forests and woodland
Hundreds of acres of ancient oak woodland would have to be destroyed to make way for the government’s expansion plans.
6. Airports cause illegal levels of nitrous oxide pollution
Heathrow airport is already breaching UK and EU legal limits for the high levels of nitrogen dioxide and therefore the present growth in the number of flights is probably unlawful. The government’s own figures show that if a third runway is built 35,000 people would be exposed to this poisonous gas.
7. Aviation's contribution to the economy is massively overstated
The aviation industry is only the 26th biggest industry in Britain. It's half the size of the computer industry, and just a tenth the size of banking and finance.
8. Aviation diverts money away from public services
The airlines receive over £10 billion in tax breaks each year because of tax-free fuel and VAT-free tickets and planes. That’s enough to buy over 30 new hospitals, build 2,000 new schools, put at least 450,000 new police on the beat, and pay the tuition fees of over 3 million students!
9. Aviation expansion is wiping established communities off the map
At its seven airports across the UK BAA is proposing the biggest single programme of airport expansion that the UK has ever seen. The industry is looking for new runways at Stansted, Heathrow, Edinburgh and possibly Glasgow, with significant increases in flights at Gatwick, Aberdeen and Southampton.
10. 'Cheap' flights are for the privileged
It’s the rich who are really benefiting from the artificially low prices of air travel. The average income of people using Stansted Airport is £47,000 per year – and it’s supposed to be a budget airport!

Plane Stupid: www.planestupid.com

Pledge to stop flying at the LowFlyZone: www.flightpledge.org.uk

You can read about the experiences of people who are choosing to holiday or participate in international business meetings, without flying, and contribute your own experiences.

You can post pictures of places you have travelled to, without flying, on the LowFlyZone map

How to smoke in public places without breaking the law

With smoking being banned in public places such as cinemas, bars and restaurants in more and more countries – in England the ban came in on 1st July 2007 – smokers are having to improvise, if they want to continue getting their nicotine fix whilst going for a night out. Suddenly pubs have taken over the streets outside, with people having a great deal of fun and laughter, whilst continuing to ignore government health warnings on smoking. Apart from the streets sometimes being ankle-deep in cigarette butts, this seems a perfect response to what some see as the nanny state at work – and non-smokers can eat, drink and watch films without having to breathe in other people’s smoke.

But now someone has developed a technological solution. This is an electronic “cigarette” which allows people to smoke wherever they want without breaking the law or spoiling it for other people. This new gizmo is a battery-powered and creates “puffs” of nicotine vapour that smokers inhale to get their nicotine fix. This is produced by an atomiser, and is just nicotine. There is no tar, no cancer causing chemicals, no carbon monoxide, no cigarette butts. The “cigarette” even lights up red at the tip, and it comes in a range of strengths from 16 milligrams of nicotine down to nothing. It costs $175 including a charger and batteries, and will last for around 350 drags which is equivalent to 30 smokes, until it needs a refill. E-cigars and pipes are also available.

This e-cigarette is produced in China by Ruyan: www.ruyanchina.com

It is available on the internet, for example, from: www.ruyanseller.com

If you want to deal with the butts problem, get a pocket ashtray from Butts Out. Use it or give it to your smoker friends. www.buttsout.net