How to Fly better in the Climate Crisis
bumprint
[BUM-print] noun, slang
The total climate impact of sitting in an aeroplane seat.
Aviation is roughly 2.5% of global CO2 emissions. But that figure understates the damage: once you count contrails and other non-CO2 effects, aviation’s full warming impact is significantly higher, likely around double. Passengers rarely hear this. What they hear from airlines is a steady stream of greenwashing: paper coffee cups, offset programmes, SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) claims, and net-zero promises pushed out to 2050. Bumprints was founded to cut through that noise.
Your bumprint
Curious how big your own bumprint is? Take the quiz to find your Flyer type and get personalised tips on where to start.
The big picture
How bad is flying, really? Worse than we’re told, and the solutions on offer don’t add up. Here’s what’s going on, and why it isn’t being fixed.
Fly better
Ready to fly better? Find simple steps for your next trip, and ways to push for the bigger changes that count.
On the Radar
30 September 2026
Hotter skies
Flying warms the planet. But a warmer planet disrupts flying. Bigger storms are grounding flights. Turbulence is getting worse. Runways are melting. And on the hottest days, planes are sometimes too heavy for the air to lift. We’re stuck in a loop, unless we decide to break it.
6 August 2026
A carbon-capture jet fuel flight
A US airline just flew a passenger plane on jet fuel made from captured carbon dioxide and clean electricity. The chemistry genuinely works. The supply chain doesn’t, at least not yet; e-SAF is a tiny drop in the ever-growing ocean of jet fuel we are burning.
28 July 2026
The longest flight in history is a step backwards, dressed as a leap forward
Qantas’s Project Sunrise flew 24 hours non-stop, Melbourne to Toulouse, to worldwide applause. But flying one of the world’s biggest jets barely half full, just to skip a stopover, is the opposite of progress. Here’s why.
Meet the Flyers
Our cartoon Flyers represent many different kinds of travellers, from eco-adventurers to private-jet setters. Find the one that sounds most like you, and you will find easy steps to shrink your bumprint, whatever size it starts at.
The Luxury Flyer
Tom lives in Sydney and regards travel as a human right, hopping on airplanes the way that most of us use buses. He works as an executive in the energy industry.
The Pilot
As a pilot, I flew enormous airliners, private jets, and small piston aircraft, even seaplanes. And when I wasn’t working in the cockpit, I was that enthusiastic ‘clapping-upon-landing’ kind of passenger.
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