We should all strive to become a little greener – and leading by example is the best way to encourage employees to adopt the same mentality. Your green initiatives should at least extend to your travelling employees – after all; they’re taking transport to meetings, flying across the world and staying in hotel accommodation.
To strengthen transparency and accountability, if you’re a business in the European Union with over 500 employees, it is your responsibility to report on environmental impact amongst other matters for your business. This means implementing a greener policy in the workplace should be in your best interest.
But, we get it, when employees are on the road, it can be easy to forget about green policies – they need to get to their meetings as fast as possible for as little as possible – saving money is an ingrained part of being an employer! But what if we told you that introducing greener measures can benefit your organisation – both financially and in a PR capacity?
It’s easier than ever to track environmental impact – from using comparison tools to find the most economical flight, to using a ground travel provider that enables you to track expenditure and frequency of journeys.
People are savvier and more eco-conscious than ever before, according to a report by PwC, 65% of people around the world want to work for an organisation with a powerful social conscience. Therefore, going greener could help strengthen your recruitment process – a benefit we bet you weren’t expecting! A company that is seen to care outwardly about the planet gets a big thumbs up from many.
So, how can you encourage travelling employees to become greener? Here’s how…
Ensure they seek out greener ground travel options
Your ground travel provider will usually offer you a ‘green’ travel option once you’ve dropped your pin to be picked up. Although you might pay slightly more in the form of a donation, this donation cost will go towards funding clean air projects in and around the region, with every gram of carbon dioxide already being offset from your ride.
If you’re unsure whether your ground travel provider offers green transport options, contact them to check. At Gett, we work together with our customers to reduce emissions. Did you know? All Gett UK rides are carbon neutral! We offset 7,500 tonnes of CO2 a year. Learn more about how we’re reducing carbon emissions.
When meetings are closer, walk or cycle
8-9% of rides made with Gett are less than three miles and can be replaced by walking; saving more than $30K per month per 100 employees! Of course, there are instances where walking or cycling might not be viable – such as when prep for a meeting is required en route or through the winter months or dreary weather, and, of course, if the meeting is not local (obviously!).
But for times when the weather is mild and dry, and the meeting is less than three miles, walking or cycling can be an excellent alternative. It’s the shorter trips that can add the most to your carbon footprint. According to research, modern cars emit twice as much pollution in the first five minutes of running – this means that a short trip doesn’t enable the vehicle pollution control system to work effectively.
Together with your ground travel provider, cast your eye over your most recent travel and pinpoint which meetings are essential and which aren’t.
Encourage employees to take part in volunteer programmes
Having employees take part in a green volunteer programme can be a great way to ‘give back’ to the natural environment. Travelling contributes to your company’s carbon footprint, we all know that, and a volunteer programme presents the perfect opportunity to offset some of the emissions you produce.
Not only will it give your employees a chance to get involved in the community, but it will also give your company a positive PR opportunity. Shouting about your latest volunteering initiative, can help you build a stronger bond within your immediate community, strengthen relationships between staff members, and raise awareness of your company in a positive way – all at the same time!
Provide company-wide reusable water bottles and coffee cups
Providing reusable water bottles and travel coffee cups seems such a simple gesture, yet it can impact the environment in a big way. Did you know that the average London adult buys more than three plastic water bottles every week?
When your employees are travelling, it’s natural for them to pop into the nearest shop and buy a bottle of water to keep hydrated. Still, you can easily reduce this wastage by providing refillable bottles.
The same goes with coffee cups, did you know that most large coffee chains now offer customers discounted coffee if they take their own coffee cup? This sounds like a small saving, and it is, but it’s a frequent expense saving. It’s also an opportunity to promote your brand further. Branded water bottles and coffee cups means more eyes on your business logo!
We hope these tips help you adopt a greener path going forwards! If you’re wondering how you can keep employees motivated and healthy while on the road, read our recent blog post: Returning to the road: healthy and productive habits we’ve learned during COVID.
