IT is not to my credit that I have yet to feel as much as a pinch of genuine eco guilt about strapping myself into the seat of an aeroplane and setting off to some distant and inviting place. My only complaint is that when it comes to revisiting favourite

IT is not to my credit that I have yet to feel as much as a pinch of genuine eco guilt about strapping myself into the seat of an aeroplane and setting off to some distant and inviting place. My only complaint is that when it comes to revisiting favourite destinations or exploring promising new territories, I don't get the opportunity often enough.

I think if we're honest, most of us feel the same. We're more likely to quit flying when prices rocket to pre-Easyjet levels. Or maybe the crunch will come when the budget airlines finally go beyond the pale in their attempts to strip passengers of any last vestige of dignity as we shell out our spare change for a ticket, in the full and certain knowledge that from the moment of check-in, we will be exposing ourselves to social humiliations worse than those that have sparked bloody revolutions in previous times.

So I'm not going to pretend that I'd willingly sacrifice air travel for the sake of the planet. But I do agree that we should do what we can to reduce our carbon footprints.

Even Boris seems to agree that we should all do our bit, ceasing publication of The Londoner and using some of the savings to plant trees. Very commendable, Boris, but not an option I'd recommend to my current employers. Hopefully even Camden Council's evangelistic eco champion, Alexis Rowell, would agree that ceasing to print the Ham&High would be a step too far.

I'm glad Alexis is there to keep us right on eco issues, even if much of what is needed seems more aspirational than obtainable. But at least I get plus points for being a non-meat eater. And one of these days, I may even leave the car at home and bike to the office.

Freewheeling down Highgate West Hill would surely be a breeze - though I have absolutely no idea how I'd accomplish the return journey without abandoning my two-wheeled steed for a comfortable taxi. Ideas, anyone?