Gijs, a man from the Netherlands who lives in Auroville now, came to speak to us about reducing carbon footprints and travel methods. On a flight from Paris to Chennai, your carbon footprint would be 1.13 metric tons. If you travel by land, that would be cut down by ten times. Gijs came up with the Green Silk Road because he wanted to be able to visit his mom in the Netherlands but wanted to avoid flying there and back because he was concerned about reducing his carbon footprint. The Green Silk Road aligns with sustainability goal #13 takes urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The Green Silk Road is a trip done every year on land from Auroville to Europe. He is hoping this will become a way for Aurovillians to travel from Auroville to Europe in the summers because many people leave to work or escape the heat. Getting to Europe will be a five-week trip there and five weeks back. Throughout the journey, they stop in villages for a couple of days and exchange and teach skills. Until planes become more environmentally friendly, this seems like the most environmentally friendly way of travel.