Green Your Work Travel
Environmental impacts associated with our work travel ‘“ both commuting and for business trips ‘“ make up a significant portion of any organization’s or individual worker’s overall environmental impacts. In addition to the environmental costs, there are associated financial, health and productivity consequences from travel. Can you rethink your travel (e.g., Do you need to go in person? How are you going to get there?)? Give low-carbon, low-stress, healthier commuting a try.
Consider where and when you work.
Review your employer’s telework or flexible work schedule policies and talk with your manager about what might work for you and your work commitments. If your organization doesn’t have such policies, talk with your human resources staff and encourage them to offer a telework program.
Use technology to reduce the number of trips you take. Utilize your organization’s teleconferencing and/or web or videoconferencing capabilities to conduct virtual meetings or trainings whenever you can.
Make sure the trips you have to take are multi-purpose.
Consider alternative transportation for commuting or business travel.
Take the train, bus, or subway when feasible ‘“ to commute, to attend a meeting, or when on business travel. If you must drive, carpool or car share and use low emissions/high miles per gallons vehicles.
Many employers provide subsidies, other incentives or tools to facilitate employee use of public transit, carpools, or the use of low-emission vehicles.
Use active transportation.
For an even healthier and cheaper option, explore the bike routes and sidewalks between your residence and office location. Walk or bike when you can to a meeting or to lunch.
Did you know?…
Congestion created by people getting to/from work costs US employers 3.7 billion hours of lost productivity each year? That adds up to $63.1 billion in wasted time and fuel each year. That’s 47 hours per year for each person.
A transit bus with as few as seven passengers uses less fuel per passenger mile than a single occupant car? A transit bus with full rush hour load of 40+ passengers uses much less fuel than 11 cars with 4 passengers each.
Boosting US rush hour traffic from 1 to 2 people per car would save 40 million gallons of gasoline A DAY, representing more than 15% of US gasoline consumption?
According to one report, 3.9 million people in the US work from home at least one day a week? This avoids an average 22-mile commute and, taking into account the increased power use at home, saves about 840 million gallons of gas the equivalent of taking 2,000,000 cars of the road for a year.