Celeb Private Jet Usage is Contributing to Environmental Issues

Flying by airplane is not an environmentally safe way to travel.  Travelling by private jet is particularly harmful to the environment.  Individuals with the resources often choose to travel by private jet for various reasons which include their comfort and lifestyle as well as the main reason being to get from point A to point B in the quickest amount of time while avoiding airport lines and security.  It’s not often that these individuals think about the environmental impact that their choices have on the environment.   It is important to focus on collective efforts for taking of earth but when individual actions are equivalent to amount of CO2 emissions of a collective, it should be publicized.  Digital marketing company, Yard decided to do just that where private jet travel is concerned.

In July, Yard, released a list of celebrities who had the highest carbon emissions by private jet.  They received raw data from Celebrity Jets and compared data to the average person’s CO2 emissions and came to an understanding about the length and mileage of celebrities’ flights as well as the number of flights that they’d taken during the year.

The celebrity with the overall highest usage was Taylor Swift.  Swift’s private jet flew 170 times during the first 200 days in 2022, which led to her jet emitting 8,293.54 metric tons of carbon dioxide.  This is the equivalent to what 1,184 individuals would release if they flew in a regular aircraft.  Representatives for Taylor Swift state that her jet is loaned out to other people on a regular basis so all of the trips cannot be attributed to her.

The next two celebrities that came in 2nd and 3rd place on the list are Floyd Mayweather and Sean “Jay-Z” Carter with Puma.  Floyd Mayweather’s jet emitted approximately 7080 tons of CO2.  

He took more flights than anyone else of the list rounding out at 177 flights as of July 2022.  Jay-Z private jet emitted approximately 7000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.  Yard stressed that Jay-Z was not on tour when he took his 136 flights as of July of this year.

After the list was published, Jay-Z’s attorney released a statement to the Washington Post stating that he doesn’t own the jet that he took trips with. Even though he may not own this one, Beyonce did gift him one several years ago.

Other celebrities that made the top ten list included Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey (omg O?? Is that you? : )), A-Rod and Blake Shelton.  Yard also used a a different method for calculating CO2 emissions and after they did so, Drake came in at number 2.  See the full list here.

Now is it necessary for some of these celebs to take a 30-minute flight when they could easily drive the distance or have someone drive them in an environmentally safe mode of transport? Mayweather used his jet for a 10-minute flight. That 10-minute flight emitted 1 ton of carbon dioxide.

When asked for a statement about the less than environmentally conscious lives that some of these celebrities live, sustainability director of Yard had this to say:

It’s easy to get lost in the dazzling lives of the rich and famous, but unfortunately, they’re a massive part of the CO2e problem we have with the aviation industry. Aviation is responsible for 2.4% of human-produced CO2e every year, and research shows a vast divide between the super-rich and the rest of us regarding flights, travel, and even general emissions.  –Chris Butterworth

Celebrities have to make more conscious decisions when it comes to travel. They can choose to neutralize their flights by purchasing carbon offsets.  Companies who provide carbon offsets use the payments from offsets to complete environmentally conscious or energy efficient projects.  These projects could range from stopping the cutting of trees or creating new energy efficient or renewable technology.  As long as the offset is going towards reducing the amount of CO2 the earth experiences, it can help you offset the CO2 that you are emitting into the environment.  

Other ways to compensate for carbon heavy travel are by choosing to make alternative or eco-conscious life choices that can help the environment. Some examples include going meatless every Monday, opting for travel by electric vehicles or even clearing one’s email inbox.  There are many actions that we can take as a collective and individually in order to lessen the amount of CO2 that is released into the environment.  The first step involves learning to care about this issue because of course, if you don’t care you will not take any action.