FOE criticise parents flying children to meet Santa
12.11.07
Going to a local department store, garden centre or Christmas bazaar to meet Santa in his grotto used to be a Christmas highlight for many young children. But it seems that's no longer enough for many parents, only a 3,000-mile round trip to snowy Lapland, complete with reindeer sleigh ride and a meeting with the bearded man in a snow covered log cabin, will do. And these trips are now firmly in the sights of environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth (FOE).
Next month a travel company will fly excited children and parents from Cardiff Airport for day trips and short-breaks in arctic Finland. The trips range from £819 per adult and £360 per child for a two-night break that includes rides on husky and reindeer sleds and a meeting with Santa in his secret log cabin, to day trips where families will enjoy about four-and-a-half hours in Lapland at a cost of £399 per adult, £379 per child. Five night trips are also available, and the trips are very popular, one day trip from Cardiff has sold out already, while another had just three seats left.
However, not everyone is delighted by the idea of flying for three-and-a-half hours each way to see Santa in his natural habitat. Friends of the Earth Cymru says flying such long distances to see a white Christmas accelerates global warming, meaning future generations of children may never actually seem one in Wales.
The trips will emit about 680 kg per person of carbon dioxide. Allowing for the plane's emissions at high altitude, the warming effect could be equivalent to about 1800kg of CO2 emissions at ground level, roughly equivalent to driving about 8,500 miles in a Ford Focus.
Gordon James, director of FoE Cymru said it was ironic that trips designed to please children could contribute to a 'worrying future' for children around the world, adding that: 'It's symptomatic of the extravagant lifestyles that are fuelling climate change.'
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