5 Ways To Make Business Travel More Sustainable
Photo by Maranda Vandergriff
As a business owner or employee, you can make changes to reduce your environmental footprint by moving away from traveling practices that harm the environment.
There are some things you can consider when developing your business’ sustainable traveling policies to inform your hotel selection, personal behavior before and after arriving at your destination, and your transport to the destination, especially the frequency of travel.
This article will highlight some changes you should make so that your business trips are more sustainably-minded.
1.Make Greener Air Transport Choices
Planes leave behind a large carbon footprint on the environment compared to other modes of transport. This is because of the significant fuel that they use, especially during take-off and landing.
Therefore, if your business trip is short, it’s best to consider other means of transport. However, some meetings may require you to take a plane to do field work or conduct in-person meetings. If that’s the case, then booking a Lufthansa business class flight or flying with another airline that has an established offsetting program might be the only plausible option.
If you must travel by plane, you should consider greener traveling choices. For instance, opt for direct flights. These use less fuel and emit lower CO2 amounts because they only take off and land once rather than multiple times with layovers.
Also, consider choosing airlines that have fuel-efficient planes. For example, go for airlines that use sustainable aviation fuels that are less harmful to the environment or airlines with carbon offsetting and waste recycling and reduction programs.
2.Use Public Transport
If you can use other means rather other than air travel, take a train or other car-sharing options instead of a private taxi. Vehicles also impact the environment in various ways as since they also contribute significant carbon emissions. However, the environmental impact from vehicles to the environment is considerably lesser than by plane.
Using a train or other car-sharing options is best because you’ll utilize less fuel and contribute to reduced traffic congestion.
3.Go Digital With Travel Documents
Paper manufacturing has a significantly harmful impact on the environment. This is because of the harmful gases released during production, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.
Most companies are reducing paper usage to lower their carbon footprint. For example, some enterprises have implemented working virtually. This pivot to remote work and meetings lowers paper usage because employees can share documents online via various sharing platforms. Some firms have gone completely paperless by utilizing cloud storage, digitizing their documents, and taking notes online rather than in a traditional notebook.
Your enterprise can positively impact the environment by lowering your paper usage during business trips by opting not to print travel documents. Today, many hotels and airports accept digital booking confirmations, tickets, and boarding passes. In doing so, you will reduce your business’s environmental impact.
4.Stay In Environmentally Conscious Accommodations
Environmentally conscious accommodations will also help reduce your company’s harmful impact on the ecosystem. So, choose hotels that donate their excess meals to food banks or the needy communities around them. Also, consider facilities that get their food sourced sustainability, those that support forest preservation initiatives, and those with recycling programs.
5.Travel Less
Traveling less can also benefit the environment. Therefore, leverage technology for meetings that don’t necessarily require in-person attendance, using video conferencing tools instead. If you must do presentations, digital whiteboards and projectors can help.
Reducing your business trips mitigates emissions by minimizing fuel use. On top of this, it decreases your expenses, improving your profit margins.
Final Thoughts
You can positively impact the environment as an entrepreneur or business leader by implementing sustainable traveling practices. In this article, you’ve learned some essential measures to take into considerations for yourself and your company’s policy. Making greener air travel choices, using public transport, utilizing digital travel documents and choosing eco-friendly accommodations can make a big difference in lowering your impact and carbon footprint.
Besides developing sustainability strategies for your business travel, find other ways to reduce your company’s carbon footprint by measuring your water, energy and other operational considerations to build an eco-friendly reputation while generating cost savings.
Sea Going Green is a sustainable tourism consultancy that works together with businesses in the tourism industry to measure and mitigate their environment impacts.