Green globetrotter: Business travel with a conscience

by Julie Cook

February 11th, 2008 in Environment, Global warming, Travel

The last thing you think about after a 10-hour workday filled with traveling, hotel reservations, food on the run, and filling client demands from your mobile office is how you can lend a hand to Mother Nature. The U.S. Travel Data Center estimates that 43 million U.S. travelers are “ecologically concerned.” If you’re in this category, there are several things you can do to help. And you don’t have to be Al Gore to get the job done. Read on for some easy travel tips from Green Hotels Association that will have you breathing a little easier.

Lodging

• Let hotel management know that it is not necessary to change your towels and sheets every day
• Turn off the AC/heat, lights and TV when you leave the room
• Leave the little bottles of shampoo if you don’t use them
• Avoid room service
• If the hotel provides complimentary newspapers, pass yours on to someone else, or leave it in the lobby for another reader. Ask the hotel to see that it’s recycled
• Carry a dry cleaning or grocery bag with you in which to carry dirty laundry home

Transportation

• Book flights with airlines that recycle the waste created when serving food and beverages to passengers. British Airways, for instance, has a very strong environmental agenda. Southwest Airlines recycles all cabin waste and was the first to offer electronic ticketing systemwide
• Use the hotel van instead of renting a car
• Use public transportation in your destination city