Green Business Travel

Tips to Greenify your business travel
By Hilary Kusel, Executive Director Green Business Alliance Eco-tourism or green-travel is becoming all the rage for vacations. What about the business traveler who is racking up frequent flier miles traveling coast-to-coast weekly? The following guide contains tips and advice on how to Greenify your business travel.  

Greenify your Flights

Greenifying your air travel can be a little more complicated. Business travelers log over 240 billion air miles a year, generating over 160 million tons of carbon dioxide. Air travel as a whole is responsible for 3.5% of carbon dioxide produced by humans and is the fastest growing source of CO2. Some companies are buying carbon offsets to neutralize the business miles traveled. Carbon offsets are a good start, but the reality is they are not going to help quite as much as they are touted to. We need to plant over 3 million trees this year to absorb the CO2 generated in 2008, but it will take 70 years for those 3 million trees to absorb the all of that C02. When looking for a carbon offset company, check that they incorporate several ways of obtaining offsets.
Try:  CarbonFund.org  is  leading the fight against global climate change, making it easy and affordable for any individual, business or organization to eliminate their climate impact and hastening the transformation to a clean energy future.

Greenify your ride

Now that you have landed and are ready to go to your final destination, think about renting an eco-friendly vehicle to get you around town. More and more rental car companies are incorporating hybrid vehicles into their fleet in an effort to Greenify.
Try:  If your business takes you to Maui, rent a Bio-Beetle  which runs on 100% vegetable oil from sustainable sources.
EV Rental  has a 100% hybrid fleet with locations in California, Arizona, and soon, Las Vegas.
Fox Rental works with EV Rental to offer hybrids at all Fox locations.
Enterprise offers the Toyota Prius for rent.
If car services are more your style, Eco-Limo  is available in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles.
OZO-Car in New York City bills itself as an eco-luxury private car service.

Green Hotels

If you have made an effort to greenify your air travel, why not take it one step further and stay in a green hotel. There are varying initiatives hotels have been taking to try to be more environmentally-friendly. Many hotels have been offering guests the opportunity to conserve water by not changing the sheets or towels every day. There are a number of hotels which go a step further. Some hotels have earned the Energy Star seal which means they use 40% less energy than conventional buildings and emit 35% less CO2. Other chains which are striving for environmental excellence include Oberoi, Hilton, Intercontinental, Mandarin Oriental, Hyatt International, Swissôtel, Starwood Hotels and Radisson.
Try:  Orbitz has launched an eco section which will you find green friendly hotels.
The Lenox Hotel in Boston utilizes energy efficient lights, natural cleaners and air fresheners, zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, local products, waterless urinals and much more.
Fairmont Hotels  have a company-wide Green Partnership Program.

The Ultimate Green Business Trip

The best way to go green with your business travels is actually to stay at the office. More and more companies are finding this option to be easier than ever. In addition to reducing your impact on the environment, it saves your business travel expenses and saves you from jet lag!
Try:  Cisco’s new TelePresence  is apparently as lifelike as being in the same room.