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Airplanes are major contributors to the global carbon emissions equation, so it's greenest to try and reduce your business travel. However, if you do have to hop a flight, there are steps that you can take to make your trip a big gentler on the planet. Sometimes a telephone call or a video link-up with a client or a vendor just won't do, and you need to be there in person to get things done. When that happens, you can still make some green choices about how you travel that will help reduce your carbon footprint.
Bring Your Own Stuff Instead of Using Airline Disposables
Instead of using the disposable, or near-disposable, goods provided by your airline while you're in the sky, reduce waste by bringing your own sustainable versions. A bring-your-own kit for airline travel might include a cozy travel pillow to rest your head on, a sigg bottle or other reusable, non-breakable container that you can fill with water instead of taking those little plastic containers from the steward or stewardess, and lightweight bamboo or plastic cutlery that you can rinse and reuse for your next flight. Since you?re buying these green goods for work-related travel, you may be able to charge the tab to your expense account, so think about getting yourself a present from the Treehugger "jet setter gift guide".
Travel In A New Airplane
Try to buy a ticket with an airline that you know has the newest possible planes. A start-up airline will usually invest in a state-of-the-art fleet at their launch, (although budget airlines sometimes buy used planes instead), so a good green rule is to keep an eye out for any newcomers to the airline marketplace, and hop a ride with them. Each new generation of airplanes is more fuel-efficient, made from lighter materials and designed to get as many miles to the gallon as cutting-edge technologies will allow, so taking your trip in one of the newest airplanes will burn less gas and leave behind less pollution than the same flight in an older plane.
Offset Your Airplane Travel Buying carbon credits to offset your "plane travel" isn't a complete solution, but it does help. What will help even more is if you can get your company to sponsor carbon offsets for all the business travel that employees do. Showing green leadership in your industry with that kind of step makes for great PR for the company, so everybody wins. Kick the idea upstairs to your supervisor, and you just might set something big in motion.
Feel the need for sustainable speed? See what eco-engineers are doing to create super-charged but low-impact cars, bikes, and planes on Planet Green TV's Mean Green Machines.
