Guild goes green to aid travel’s eco worriers

The Guild of Travel Management Companies has come up with a list of “starter suggestions” to help business travellers – encouraged by their employers – to minimise the eco-impact of their trips.

Most major travel management companies have now sophisticated “carbon tracking” systems, says GTMC chief executive Philip Carlisle, and in-house corporate travel managers are increasingly environmentally aware.

However, there are still plenty of simple, straightforward steps that travellers themselves can take to minimise their carbon footprint. 

“First and foremost, travellers and their bosses have to consider whether the journey is really necessary.  In many instances, that is a decision only the traveller can make, but travel managers and employers need to be encourage travellers to think about the alternatives,” says Carlisle.

“Business people do not travel for the fun of it, however, and the trip will generally prove to be essential.  The Guild’s question is not whether a trip is necessary, but whether this particular trip is necessary – can the objectives be achieved by other, greener means?

“There are plenty of relatively simple ways in which travellers and their employers can reduce their carbon footprints without reducing their effectiveness.  Our shortlist is far from comprehensive, but we hope it will prompt people to think harder about this all-important issue.”

1:  Plan ahead
This won’t necessarily reduce your own carbon emissions, but it will help others reduce theirs.  Consider whether more meetings can be scheduled during the trip – that is more meeting per journey or flight.  Anyway, bookings made well in advance, are generally cheaper than those made at the last minute.

2:  Take the train
For the majority of domestic journeys, rail travel has become a viable alternative.  Eurostar is a genuine competitor on near-Europe routes such as Paris and Brussels, and high-speed rail services within Europe have improved dramatically.

3:  Plane facts
For longer trips, where flying is the only option, consider the green credentials of the airlines plying your route.  Most carriers now publicise their environmental policies; be wary of those that don’t.

4:  Regional airports
Choose your airports carefully.  If you are driving (see below) from midway between, say, Heathrow and Southampton, or Bristol and Birmingham, opt where possible for the smaller of the two.  You’ll be going against the flow, and are less likely to get snarled up in traffic.

5:  Don’t drive
With very few exceptions, UK airports have pretty good public transport links.  If you doubt their reliability, leave earlier – it doesn’t have to be a last-minute dash!  Arriving back too late?  ‘Train there, cab back’ is always better than ‘car there, car back’.

6:  Care, and share
If you really have no other option but to take car or taxi to the airport, find someone to share it with.  Your sharer doesn’t have to be going to the same destination, just the same airport.  Even if you then have to return separately, at least you’ve saved one trip.

7:  Time wise
Most travellers end up with time to kill at the departure airport.  Use it wisely.  An hour’s work now is an hour’s worth of midnight oil that doesn’t have to be burned at some future date.

8:  Flight sense
Similarly, use your time in the air to best advantage, particularly on longhaul flights.  Whether you relax or work should depend on your arrival time.  If you watch movies all day, your hotel lights are going to be on all night while you play catch-up.

9:  Transfer tips
The hotel shuttle bus carries 20 people at a time and is going to make its circuit whether you’re on it or not.  You’ve just missed one, and the choice is a 25-minute wait or a taxi trip with just you in it.  You work it out.

10:  Light saver
There are scores of ways to minimise the impact of a hotel stay, but the simplest and easiest is still to remember to turn off the lights.  Do you really need the desklamp, the standard lamp, the reading light and TV on while you’re in the shower?