Eco-Friendly Travel: Are Cruise Ships or Airlines Greener?

Last Update: January 21, 2025 / 19:31:51 GMT/Zulu time

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In 2019, almost 30 million people went on a cruise. Such a huge number demonstrates how popular cruising is as a vacation option all over the world. Flying rates are on the rise as well. Of course, these numbers have dropped a lot over the last two years. But now that the world is getting back to normal, it won't be long before things are back to normal. It's also becoming more and more critical to travel in an eco-friendly way when choosing a trip type to take. 

A big part of many people's lives these days is being more eco-friendly and lowering the damage we do to the world. When they pack their bags and explore the world, many tourists look for eco-friendly options wherever they can. Are you one of those? Maybe you are one of those ready to check cruise ship jobs. Regardless of the case, it is the right time to compare traveling on cruise ships and planes; what’s greener?

Responsible Travel and Eco-Friendly Tourism

When planning a trip, there are many things to think about, but sustainability is getting more and more important to customers. Google said that the number of searches for “sustainable travel options” would rise by 70%. Booking.com, a digital travel business, also found that 81% of the 30,000 travelers they polled said that sustainable travel was “important to them” and that 71% want to travel more sustainably in the next year. It's important to note that 52% of respondents see “lower-to-no CO2 transportation emissions” as an important part of environmentally friendly travel, and 40% actively look for sustainability info when booking transportation.

Statista predicts that the ecotourism business will grow a lot over the next few years, hitting a value of $334 billion USD by 2027. This shows that sustainability is becoming a critical factor for travelers to consider. So, transportation and travel companies can not only benefit from the growing trend of responsible tourism, but they also need to do more to be environmentally friendly in order to meet customer needs.

You will pollute the environment no matter which way you go. You can really hurt the earth without meaning to. Your car or plane's carbon emissions, hotels that use a lot of water and energy, food packaging trash along the way, and other things all do this. But there are a few types of trips that are much worse than others. The water and air around cruise ships are dirty. The noise from these also bothers animals that are in their way. So let’s compare plane emissions and ones from boats.

#1 – Emissions from Planes

Transportation in general is blamed for 16.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Air travel, which includes both people and freight, is responsible for 1.8% of those emissions. The International Clean Transportation Council reported that 82% of all airline pollution came from passenger travel. That's 747 million metric tons of carbon dioxide released every year. Since 1990, emissions from domestic trips in the U.S. have gone up by 17%. Additionally, passenger air travel continues to grow at a positive rate around the world, which makes it harder to slow down global warming.

About 70% of the pollution that planes make is carbon dioxide. CO2 is the warming gas that most people know about. It is made when jet fuel is burned. How much CO2 a plane gives off depends on the type of plane, the number of people, and how efficiently it uses fuel. The ratio is about three pounds of CO2 for every pound of fuel used, “regardless of the flight phase.”

Burning plane fuel also makes nitrogen oxides, which are called indirect greenhouse gases because they help make ozone but are not CO2. Even though NOx emissions from airplanes are still a small part of all aircraft emissions, they are growing faster than CO2 emissions, doubling from 1990 to 2014. That rise is because the aviation industry is growing. The main goal of the aviation industry when it comes to the environment is to cut down on CO2 pollution.

#2 — Emissions from Cruise Ships

It was reported that a large cruise ship uses up to 81,000 gallons (304,600 liters) of naval fuel every day. Marine fuels are different types of fossil fuels that release pollution, so they have a big carbon effect. Another thing that cruises do that many other types of vacations don't are they use a lot of carbon. Based on their research, the non-profit Friends of the Earth found that people who take a cruise around Seattle produce eight times more CO2 than tourists who stay in Seattle for their vacation.

And it's not just CO2 that warms the climate that's the issue. The 218 cruise ships that were in Europe in 2022 released more sulfur oxides (SOx) into the air than a billion cars or 4.4 times more than all the cars on the continent put together. The latter can damage plants and even cause acid rain. It is also possible for people to have lung problems after being exposed to the pollution.

Make Your Travel Decision Responsibly

It's not a surprise that a lot of people are looking for more eco-friendly ways to move to reduce their carbon footprint as the effects of climate change become more clear. An important step is to take responsibility and do what you can to make a change, even if that means giving up or changing things.

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