Organizations are making great strides to shape greener travel programs and policies.
Here are 3 things that individual travelers can do to help make business trips more sustainable.
- Creative offsetting
We’re seeing a proliferation of innovative ways to help meet reduce the impact on our planet like Treedom. Planting trees can bolster biodiversity support local communities. Treedom lets you grow a tree remotely, even selecting the right species and environment. The organization has planted an impressive 3 million trees globally, so far.
Receive a photograph, geolocation and updates on the local project and its impact. Treedom commits to care for your tree for a minimum of 10 years.
- Choose an eco-friendly hotel
Partnerships like CWT and Thrust Carbon empower travelers to make greener choices at the point of sale. But it’s not always easy to know whether you’re choosing the most planet-friendly accommodation. One rule of thumb is ‘less is more.’ Choose a smaller room to conserve energy and choose a spot close to your meetings to reduce the length of a taxi journey .
Another handy way to identify eco-friendly accommodation is to research their credentials on addressing sustainability issues which should be underpinned by targets and tangible goals such as installing solar panels at 50% of their properties by 2025. Find out more about sustainability standards in hotels by listening to a green standard in hospitality.
- Circularity at every stage
Consider the circular economy at every stage of your trip. Can you mix fast fashion and buy a work outfit from a local, sustainable fashion label instead? Is your food sustainably sourced – meaning it comes from ecosystems that are managed according to environmental standards that enable regeneration? Your shopping will likely be labelled from a carbon-neutral certification scheme. Can you choose dishes made from ingredients from local farms thereby putting back into the local community? Can you hire an EV (electric vehicle) over an SUV? Consider where the item or service you are consuming comes from and where it’s going next.
