After reading The Heat is On by Ross Glebspan when my two daughters were young girls, I realized where things were going climate-wise if we didn’t make large changes. I decided not to fly in 2010 and have held fast to this decision.

People sometimes poke fun at me when they learn of this decision. Others are shocked. I encourage everyone I speak with to fly less or not at all. It’s a hard conversation to have. People attribute status with flying. It’s expected of people when they retire. College students are also expected to fly and live abroad.

While it’s sad not to visit far away places, it’s sadder to imagine a world in complete climate chaos. The hardest part for me is to see how deeply embedded in denial people are. They think doing small things in their own lives won’t make a difference and so they continue to live as if nothing is wrong.