Sustainable business practices can have major benefits for your business, products, team, and community, as well as protect natural resources, reduce CO2 emissions, and make a positive impact with eco-friendly measures.
Many companies are aware of their impact on the environment and are working towards addressing sustainability issues within the workplace. However, businesses often need to manage a balance between efficiency, profitability, and market competitiveness. Needless to say, it is crucial for a company to improve its sustainable development without incurring financial losses.
Ultimately, a business needs to work towards a sustainability programme that would run throughout the organisation.
What is Sustainable Travel?
When thinking about sustainability in the workplace, business travel can often have a big impact on the environment. Company employees may need to travel regularly for business meetings, which can be local or further afield, as many corporations are now global.
A sustainable travel programme can be quick to implement and have a positive impact without hampering business operations. A sustainable travel programme can typically save money for the company, improving their profit as well.
With sustainable travel, the goal is to reduce or negate the harm to natural environments and cultural heritage.
Generally, problems related to sustainable travel are more common in the tourism field. This is to do with the fact that over-tourism and how people travel can negatively impact local culture and host communities. For this reason, some travel companies have been looking into more positive incentives such as sustainable destinations.
Nonetheless, even if your company is not in the tourism industry, there are still challenges involved. Often, the frequency of work travel and how it's done is hugely challenging. Usually, companies tend to pick the most convenient and fastest method for commuting, overlooking more sustainable public transport options.
How to Make Your Company Travel Sustainable
When looking into your company’s travel strategy, there are important measures that you can implement to make a difference and improve your business’s sustainability.
Smart travel
How we travel can have significant effects on the environment. To improve your company’s travel sustainability, it is important to evaluate your travel culture and whether it is the right one.
Often, company employees tend to travel by air, which, unfortunately, is the mode of transportation with the most carbon emissions. To reduce your business’s carbon footprint, you should look into more sustainable options. Start by asking yourself some core questions:
Is it necessary?
The first thing to consider is the importance of travel for the employee. For example, if you are organising a business meeting, could it be done via video conferencing instead? Is it essential to have so many people there, or could it be cut down to a minimum core group?
Reducing the need for travelling will help you decrease carbon emissions and the use of natural resources, improving your company’s travel sustainability.
Do you need that many layovers?
When choosing your flights, generally, more layovers mean more use of natural resources and carbon emissions due to a greater number of take-offs and landings. As an alternative, your company should consider sticking to direct flights. On the subject of accommodation, with more stops comes a need for more bookings, which increases the use of natural resources and may end up being more expensive.
Does it have to be by plane?
If the travel distance is short, you should consider another transportation type besides by air. For example, using public transportation, such as rail travel, can be cheaper and more sustainable. This also saves time, as the employee won’t need to arrive at the rail station hours in advance. Travelling by land can also increase productivity, as it provides easier access to the internet, phone service, and electricity throughout the journey.
Raise Awareness
To improve your company’s travel sustainability, it is critical to educate your employees. There are additional steps they may be able to take during their business travels.
One thing to consider is the type of car they hire. Choosing a hybrid or electric vehicle can make a considerable difference in your organisation’s carbon footprint. Selecting sustainable hotels with a good environmental record will also improve your company’s sustainability.
Sustainable Travel Benefits
Establishing a sustainable travel programme will help both the environment and your business.
More time, more productivity
With less time spent travelling comes an increase in productivity. So, you should always ensure that the travel is necessary and efficient.
More money
When choosing public transportation, such as rail travel, there’s a good chance it'll be cheaper, allowing your business to save money while being more sustainable.
Reduced carbon footprint
The reduction in your carbon footprint that results from more sustainable travel not only helps the environment but also enhances your company’s image. Environment headlines have been trending during the last years, so do your marketing department a favour by being on the positive side.
Making a positive contribution
Naturally, everyone likes the feeling of making a positive impact on the world. Therefore, working for an employer that has adopted a sustainability programme can strengthen employees’ satisfaction in the workplace.
