Flight shame, or as the Swedish have named it ‘flygskam’ is taking over the environmentally conscious, making us feel guilty about flying sometimes when we have no other option. Carbon offsetting flights provides opportunity for travellers to feel better about flying however not many people are aware of this option or take the time to do it.

My proposition is installing contactless card readers at the flight gates in airports which can be set to calculate the amount of money needed to be paid to offset each passenger’s carbon emissions for that flight. Then, supplemented with digital infographics and flight-specific statistics, passengers can have the option to easily donate before they board the plane.

Although the payment could be potentially expensive for long haul flights and put people off donating, it would be much cheaper for the high quantity of short haul or domestic flights, especially within Europe or the United States, meaning donating would be a no brainer for a lot of travellers.

This idea could be easily installed over hundreds of international airports due to the widespread use and ease of contactless payment methods. With the wider acknowledgement of the detrimental environmental impacts of flying, passengers could put their minds at rest by simply tapping their cards at the gate before they board.