How to Travel the Sea like Greta

Considering the volume of criticism, Greta’s choice to publicly avoid flying is incredibly clever. Her voyage has become ingrained in our psyche – she’s made society much more aware of the impact of flying at a time when cutting emissions has become so urgent.

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Since then Greta has travelled back to Europe from Virginia, hitching a ride to Portugal with a YouTube family. A move that has influenced a wave of people eager to try out the sea equivalent to hitchhiking. Her impact is evident from the flood of new members joining Facebook pages facilitating 'sail-hitchhiking'.

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Why sail instead of fly?

Commercial planes have a big environmental impact because they’re powered by carbon-rich fossil fuels which produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Planes also generate nitrous oxide and water vapour, more greenhouse gases which all contribute to global warming and the altitude at which planes emit these gases means they last for longer in the atmosphere.

Sail boats, like Greta’s, aren’t powered by an engine and therefore do not produce carbon dioxide from combusting fossil fuels. This means they have very low to no carbon emissions although some may be generated from using electricity on board. The Malizia II was designed to emit as little carbon as possible. It is specifically fit with solar panels and two hydro-generators to provide the electricity for those on the boat. Beyond that the boat was propelled solely by wind.

Motorboats are powered by an engine, so they produce carbon dioxide like planes. The good news is that many boats now use biodiesel instead of marine diesel to power their engines. Biodiesel is a biofuel, these are considered a more sustainable, less carbon-intensive versions of fossil fuels as they are created from plants. Biodiesel is made from oils extracted from plants. So, the carbon dioxide that the plants take in, to grow and make food, balances out some of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere when biodiesel is burned in the engine.

Sea travel, although great for the planet, takes much longer than flying and can be far more expensive. For most people it’s just not feasible. If you only have a few weeks off work a year, why would you want to spend half that time travelling to and from your holiday destination. But for those of you planning your gap-year or post-Uni travels, this may be the best and only-time in your life when you have the freedom, time and spirit to try sail-hitchhiking or to just explore sea-based options, like river boating or ferries.