Posted 1st Sep 2018 by Jo
Travelling in an eco-conscious way
Are you lucky enough to have clients in exotic places that require your presence from time to time and who are happy to pay for you to get to them?
Travel, despite our best efforts, means increasing pollution. Pollution adds to the mess this world is in by adding more greenhouse gases to the mix, that lead to further warming, resulting in melting the ice caps, which will lead to more flooding, which has serious implications for the globe as a whole. So how can you still travel to your client without further adding to this global problem?
Firstly where do you need to go, and how quickly do you need to get there? To get outside of Europe quickly, your only real option is to fly (or if you have a few weeks spare, get a boat, but that probably isn’t the most time-efficient method). Carbon offsetting is a popular choice for flyers and googling the term will give you many options, from planting more trees or allowing you to invest in renewable energy projects. Airlines such as Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Emirates offer their own off set programmes, but you can also do it yourself by inputting your mode of travel and distance into a site like www.carbonfootprint.com .
The UK’s closeness to Europe does mean that flying isn’t a necessary to get away and Western Europe, by way of Eurostar and the fabulous European rail network (The Man In Seat 61 is your go to for the post-Eurostar travel advice), has a multitude of spaces to explore. If you live in Scotland, you could get a sleeper service to London to save time (and accommodation!) if you are in a hurry. London to Paris is only about 2.5 hours and from Paris you can connect to all of Europe. (Hint: take the Eurostar to Lille so you only have to change platforms if you don’t fancy dragging your luggage to a different station). Taking the train will more or less cut your CO2 emissions in half saving you some on carbon offsetting.
If you are still undecided on the most environmentally friendly (or cheapest carbon offsetting option!) way to get somewhere, try the EcoPassenger website where you can input your route, find out the emissions levels of the various transport options and see the different pollutants that you will be indirectly throwing at the environment.
I am always happy to discuss ways you can be more green in your business, so please do get in touch or post on our social media if you want to have a chat or tell me about your green business success! Don’t forget to shout about it on your own social media as well!