You can carry them on an eBike if you’re creative enough.

I am in the midst of the 2-tonne challenge this year, aiming to keep within the official carbon budget allocated to each person on a global scale, which is the upper limit required for us to stay below 1.5 degrees warming.

The transport pledge for one year:

• Zero car ownership

• No flights - especially in jet aircraft

• No cruise ship travel

• Up to 5000km long-distance train travel. Emissions: 160kg CO2

• Up to 5000km bus and short-distance train travel. Emissions: 50kg CO2

• Up to 950km car travel (eg taxi, car-club, ride-share). Emissions: 195.37kg CO2

• Walking and cycling for most short journeys. Emissions: 23.8kg CO2

• Minimal ferry travel. Emissions: 152.8kg CO2

Emissions total: 581.97kg

Switching to an eBike: a wheely zippy move

For my emissions to be under 2 tonnes, I can’t have a petrol car. The average Aucklander emits 1.56 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year from driving. So I’ve ditched the Subaru and switched to an e-bike for 2024.

The main thing I learned has been that you don’t need a car for the majority of your journeys, and that eBikes beat cars anywhere within 10km - 15km range. In Auckland, 58% of all trips are under 5km, and a 5km trip takes just 20 minutes by bike.

On top of this, I’ve saved so much time. It’s often much faster to travel to places by bike than in a car, especially during rush hour. A 10km journey to a board meeting is always half an hour, while driving could vary from 20 minutes to two hours depending on traffic.

It’s also much easier to run errands, park directly outside, then load up and go. No searching for a park, loading the parking meter, worrying about traffic. You can usually just park within a few meters of your intended destination with a bicycle: In, out, home. 

An added bonus is that it has been much easier on my wallet. Not owning a car has meant no maintenance, petrol, rego or warrant bills, let alone parking fines or speeding fines. I haven’t noticed any change in my electricity bill from charging the ebike, and I’ve saved thousands this year from car-associated costs.

Some pros of owning an eBike:

• It’s fun! Super great for your mental health to be outside 

• Surprisingly, there are now cycle lanes almost everywhere

• Looks trendy

• Can easily get away from enemies with throttle

• Save lots of time and money on parking

• No such thing as traffic jams on an eBike

• Cancel your gym membership, biking an eBike home in non-electric mode is better than a Les Mills workout.

Just one con of biking everywhere is the weather. Tip: get wet weather gear. The more you wear it, the less it rains.

Who needs a car? A woman on an ebike can do anything

Yes, the deck chair was too far, I’ll admit that. But it didn’t fall off! Who’s going to say no to a free deck chair?

Zero flights: No holiday to Europe, no jetsetting was plane delightful

Last year I returned to Portugal for three months and this year I realised what a huge impact this made on my carbon emissions (7 tonnes!) This year, with the low-carbon lens on our holiday decision making, my partner and I realised it would be cheaper (both in terms of carbon and cost) to buy a sailboat we could use for years than to travel once to Europe.

For $5000 we bought ourselves a 6-metre trailer sailer - a sailboat you store on land - and we’re learning to sail as well to fix the holes we put in the boat while we learn. It’s been so much more character-building and exciting than one trip overseas and we’ve got a lovely boat we can use for many more holidays to come. It has emitted less than 130kg CO2 from petrol in the motor for the whole year.

The pain: let’s speed up our rail network!

Work travel has been the toughest. Surprisingly, saying no to international travel was fine - my teams and clients were happy to adapt. One even hosted an all-team meeting in the country instead of flying people to Hawaii due to my no-fly ban! But travelling within New Zealand, between major cities Wellington and Auckland, was frustrating.

For close range, I would recommend car sharing. Mevo, Zilch and many others now offer daily hire rates. For one workshop needed to run in Whangārei, I hired a Mevo, charged it while I was running the workshop with the council there, then drove it home. It cost $180 in total. Not bad!

You can’t travel everywhere in New Zealand by bus and train, but if you’re going somewhere included in that network, both those modes of transport are entertaining. I love travelling this way, pondering our existence and staring out the window at beautiful Aotearoa.

The highlight for me of travelling this way was taking the trains. The scenery is downright stunning and taking the train is about the same price as flights these days. You can work too - but you won’t want to - the views are very distracting! It’s like a regular day in the office but with more beautiful scenery.

$3780 of public money is spent per person each year on infrastructure in New Zealand; you have a right to say what kind of infrastructure you would like being built with your tax money. We desperately need to restore our passenger rail and protect the rail network from further defunding.

Surprise bonus upside: more time for carpooling has meant #networking

Biking around my ‘hood and catching a lift with colleagues and friends has meant way more spontaneous social interactions! I never realised before, but it really makes you happier running into people (in a good way) and stopping to have a quick chat on your way around life.

As well as all the incidental benefits of sticking to the pledge, in 2024 my carbon emissions from travel went from a whopping 13,000kg+ to just 581.97kg.

Adding up my emissions from food (1082.7) and emissions from transport, that’s 1.655 out of 2 tonnes for 2024 so far.

Will Emily make it to the end of 2024 under two tonnes? Find out in the next instalment.

Emily Mabin Sutton (centre)

Emily Mabin Sutton is an emerging director, on the board of Consumer NZ, Clean Planet, and Cool-Safe Trust. She is also general manager of Climate Club, a climate non-profit that runs climate workshops as well as Climate Fresks - a climate game played by 1.9 million people worldwide.

Read Emily’s other articles on the two tonne challenge:

Why (and how) I’m taking the two tonne challenge

Finding the recipe for a low carbon diet

Want to join the 2025 Two Tonne Challenge? Sign up here!