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If you're like me—trying to minimize the impact your electricity use, your diet, your daily transportation and your things have on the planet—and have analyzed the carbon footprint of your whole life using a tool such as WattsOn you very quickly see that one or two trips a year by plane can equal the impact of the rest of your personal life.
And some of those trips are probably not just to jet off on a holiday, but are for work. You may have to go on some of them for your job, even if your green conscience tells you otherwise. So what to do? Keeping in mind that really nothing short of not flying hugely reduces the carbon footprint of taking a trip by plane, here are some tips and options to consider if you have to fly for work to reduce the eco-impact:
- Fly Direct Whenever Possible
Not only is flying direct way more pleasant that interminable lay-overs in some podunk airport with even worse food than your home airport, but will cut down on the amount of fuel used on the journey—the amount used at cruising altitude is far less than when taking off. If you don't live anywhere near a hub airport, considering taking a shuttle bus or van to that hub instead of flying. The carbon emissions from that short bus journey pale in comparison to the puddle jumper flight. - Combine Trips if Possible
You quite often may have no control over this, but whenever possible try to combine trips together. While this may at first seem contradictory to the first tip, if a choice between several return journeys back and forth for multiple trips, or several shorter flights combining multiple meetings or events that ultimately returns you to home base, the latter is most likely going to win out. - Choose Your Airline Wisely
Different airlines use different equipment on similar routes. This can yield surprising variability in emissions on the same trip.
Using figures from Terra Pass for the sake of comparison a flight from New York to Los Angeles and back emits 1,436 lbs of CO2. (That may be a low figure due to the way Terra Pass calculates radiative forcing, but we'll leave that aside...)
But entering in specific airlines yields the following results for the same journey: American Airlines = 1,618 lbs of CO2; Delta = 1,280 lbs; Qantas = 1,340 lbs; United Airlines = 1,976 lbs; Virgin America = 1,409 lbs.
They don't always have that many different options for every route, but when you are presented with them, it is worth examining and choosing your airline based on that. - Buy and Deduct Your Carbon Offset
There's probably an accountant out there who will say that you can't do this, but considering that the EPA just declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are threats to human health, I think it perfectly justifiable to purchase your own carbon offsets and the deduct them as required business expenses for which your employer hasn't reimbursed you. It may not add up to much in the scheme of things, and the whole idea of carbon offsets for flying does sometimes feel like buying indulgences for eco-sins, but if you choose your offset program wisely it is worthwhile doing. - Take the Train
If there is a train on the route you need to take for your business trip, this is how you justify the added time the journey will take to your boss (it only works if there's internet access on the train or you've got a wireless modem for your laptop): You can work en route. Rather than being cooped up in coach, you can take calls and work remotely while traveling. If your connection is fast enough you may be able to use Skype or similar software to video chat for some virtual face time. It won't work in every situation, but video conferencing, internet access and a cell phone seriously start to negate the advantage of speed that an airplane has over a train.
Greener Traveling
Pack Less, Fly Direct, Stick With Economy: Greener Flying Tips from Terrapass
Planes, Trains, Automobiles (and Buses): Which is the Greenest Way to Travel Long Distance in the US?
5 Instances When it is Better to Fly Than to Drive
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