Just how much ozone gets torched when 80,000 people fly, drive, and private jet their way to Burning Man? Just pick a point of origin and a transportation method and feel the shame.
Burning Man’s Big Carbon Footprint
Air travel has become a hot-button topic in the conversation about climate change. And a growing number of anti-flyers—including 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg who arrived at this week’s U.S. Climate Conference in a zero-emissions sailboat—are leading by example, encouraging others to avoid flying or to at least to feel bad about it when they do. The Swedes have even invented a word to describe the guilt involved in getting on a plane: flygskam, which literally translates to “flight shame.”
To put the carbon footprint of a commercial flight in perspective, we looked at the emissions associated with another pilgrimage: Burning Man, the annual happening in a remote corner of the Nevada desert called Black Rock City. According to organizers, nearly 90% of the emissions associated with Burning Man are a result of transportation. There are nearly 80,000 people in attendance each year and nearly 30% of them fly to the event, suggesting that much of Burning Man’s carbon footprint comes from aviation fuel emissions. The event even has their own affiliated airline, Burner Express Air, with a fleet planes that ferry attendees from L.A. and San Francisco directly to the desert.
By calculating the individual carbon footprint of an airline passenger—then comparing it to the total carbon emissions of other, more mundane actions and items—we can see the impact of a single flight.
tweet
share
Share
Miami
chicago
portland
Austin
london
berlin
l.a.
s.f.
pick a point of origin to see
how much co2 your trip produces:
Miami
chicago
portland
Austin
london
berlin
s.f.
n.y.c.
New York → Oakland
Plane: 1041kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 34kg
1075kg
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 350.4
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 1143.7
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 9513.3 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 32.2 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 1194.4 joints
First class
coach
First class
coach
London, UK
to Black Rock, NV
New York → Oakland
Plane: 628kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 34kg
662kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 5858.4 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 19.8 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 735.6 joints
London → Los Angeles
Plane: 1866kg
Los Angeles → Black Rock
Car: 86kg
1952kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 17274.3 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 58.4 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 2168.9 joints
First class
coach
New York → Oakland
Plane: 932kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 86kg
1018kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 9008.8 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 30.5 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 1131.1 joints
First class
coach
New York, NY
to Black Rock, NV
New York → Oakland
Plane: 2024kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 50kg
2074kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 18354 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 62.1 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 2304.4 joints
First class
coach
First class
coach
Berlin, Germany
to Black Rock, NV
New York → Oakland
Plane: 1257kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 74kg
1331kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 11778.8 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 39.9 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 1478.9 joints
First class
coach
First class
coach
Miami, FL
to Black Rock, NV
New York → Oakland
Plane: 1092kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 50kg
1142kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 10106.2 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 34.2 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 1268.9 joints
New York → Oakland
Plane: 520kg
Oakland → Black Rock
Car: 74kg
594kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 9513.3 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's jeans: 32.2 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 1194.4 joints
Chicago → Sacramento
Plane: 448kg
Sacramento → Black Rock
Car: 36kg
484kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 4283.2 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 14.5 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 537.8 joints
no difference between first class and coach
Chicago, IL
to Black Rock, NV
Austin → Las Vegas
Plane: 328kg
Las Vegas → Black Rock
Car: 74kg
402kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice cream: 3557.5 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 12 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 446.7 joints
no difference between first class and coach
Austin, TX
to Black Rock, NV
Portland → Reno
Plane: 226kg
Reno → Black Rock
Car: 18kg
244kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice cream: 2,159.3 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 7.3 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 271.1 joints
no difference between first class and coach
Portland, OR
to Black Rock, NV
Los Angeles → Black Rock
Plane: 394kg
394kg
private jet
car ride
private jet
car ride
Los Angeles, CA
to Black Rock, NV
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 3486.7 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 11.8 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 437.8 joints
Sacramento → Black Rock
Car: 86kg
86kg
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 2.6 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 95.6 joints
story By Eliza Martin
Design by tri vo
Get more stunning visual stories every week.
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 215.8
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 704.3
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 676.1
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 2206.5
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 372.3
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 1215
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 636.3
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 2076.7
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 331.9
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 1083
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 433.9
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 1416
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 193.6
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 632
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 28
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 91.5
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 128.4
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 419.2
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 761.1 cones
Sacramento → Black Rock
Car: 25kg
25kg
113g of CO2 per cone
Ice Cream: 221.2 cones
33.4kg of CO2 per pair
Levi's Jeans: 0.7 pairs
900g of CO2 per joint
Weed: 27.8 joints
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 8.1
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 26.6
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
San Francisco, CA
to Black Rock, NV
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 157.8
3.13kg of CO2 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 514.9
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 131.1
3.13kg of C02 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 427.7
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
12.27kg of CO2 per lb.
¼ lb. Burgers: 79.5
3.13kg of C02 per lb.
Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches: 259.6
CO2 produced from round-trip transport per person:
In context with co2 impact of other consumables:
n.y.c.
l.a.