Tips for Reducing Travel Carbon Footprint for Your Company

Travel is an important aspect of many businesses, but it often comes with a big environmental cost. As a climate-conscious organization working towards net-zero for all, Aclymate wants to highlight some strategies you can consider to reduce your company's carbon footprint in this sector.

• Prioritize local transportation and choose sustainable accommodations
• Choose the mode of transportation consciously
• Eat locally and plant-based
• Gain environmental perspective with international travels

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Prioritize local transportation and choose sustainable accommodations

Encouraging employees to explore destinations closer to home can drastically reduce travel-related emissions. Local and regional trips require less planning and contribute to a lower carbon footprint compared to long-distance travel. When travel is necessary, choosing nearby locations for meetings, conferences, or team events can significantly cut down on emissions.

Additionally, selecting eco-friendly accommodations further reduces the impact. Avoiding overly luxurious hotels can help, as high-end facilities often have energy-intensive amenities such as gas fireplaces or extensive lighting. Instead, look for hotels that prioritize sustainability, use energy-efficient practices, and have green certifications.

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Choose the mode of transportation consciously

The choice of transportation significantly influences travel emissions. When planning trips, consider:

• Trains over cars and planes: For longer distances, trains are often the most eco-friendly option, producing fewer emissions per mile than cars or planes due to their passenger-carrying efficiency.
• Cars over planes for short distances: If train travel isn’t feasible, driving is a better option than flying for short trips. For short trips, cars generally produce less carbon per mile compared to airplanes, especially for flights under 300 miles, since take-offs and landings consume more fuel.
• Electric vehicles (EVs): For road trips, electric vehicles are a much greener choice than gas-powered cars.

If air travel is unavoidable:

• Book direct flights: Opt for direct flights to minimize fuel consumption associated with multiple take-offs and landings.
• Offset carbon emissions: Purchase carbon offsets to support projects that reduce emissions to compensate for the flight’s environmental impact. Learn about Aclymate’s list of offset projects here!

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Eat locally and plant-based

Dietary choices can also impact a trip’s carbon footprint. Encourage employees to eat local produce and plant-based meals while traveling.

Locally sourced food has a lower carbon footprint because it doesn’t need to be transported long distances, and plant-based diets are generally more climate-friendly than meat-based ones.

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Gain environmental perspective with international travels

It is important to realize that while reducing emissions is essential, international travel can provide valuable cultural and environmental perspectives. If your company (based in Denver, hypothetically) is planning on long-distance trips, instead of flying from Denver to Honolulu (about 3,340 miles), consider traveling to San José, Costa Rica, approximately 2,500 miles away.

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Costa Rica is renowned for its commitment to sustainability, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 and home to numerous national parks that protect rich biodiversity. Employees can learn about renewable energy practices, as the country generates over 99% of its electricity from renewable sources.

By engaging in some destination research and prioritizing international travel, companies can intentionally educate their employees on environmental awareness that extends beyond domestic settings. After all, many countries have high happiness levels with lower energy consumption!

Want to learn more about evaluating and offsetting your business’s carbon emissions? Book a free 30-minute consultation call with our sustainability expert now.