Transport

For the majority of businesses, transport represents the second biggest impact that they have on climate change. This may however differ if your company has a large fleet or is involved in the logistics or transport industry.

What to do

As with energy there are a number of things that a business can do to reduce the impact transport is having on climate change:

• Reduce the number of journeys made by both your business and your employees;
• Change your method of transport to more sustainable methods;
• Introduce green transport plans.

How to do it

As with energy there are a number of programmes, campaigns and support services in place that can help you better manage the impact that your transport is having on climate change.

Smarter Travel Work Places

This is a public awareness programme working with employers to implement voluntary workplace travel plans. For businesses it gives information on setting up a workplace travel plan plus information on the Taxsaver Commuter Ticket Scheme.

How Clean is your Car

This site from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland will help consumers to make an informed choice when buying a new car. It lists the fuel consumption, CO₂, and other performance figures of cars currently on the market in the Republic of Ireland and the UK . There is also general advice and guidance on ways of reducing the impact of cars on the environment.

Transport Tips

1. Encourage your employees to use public transportation to get to work. If possible, provide incentives or bonuses for people who leave their car at home or travel to work by sustainable transport. These incentives could be flexible working hours, an environmentally-friendly “prize” or other methods of encouragement.
2. Allow your employees to work from home. If you can limit the amount of days they need to travel into the office, their carbon emissions can be reduced significantly. Create roaming access for email and tele-commuting opportunities, where staff can actively participate in meetings and discussions without actually having to go anywhere!
3. If your company gives bonuses, why not give a bicycle as part of that package? Encourage your staff to use their bike to travel to work by providing them with support and a safe place to park it.
4. Introduce a carpooling programme in your business. Encourage staff who live near each other to drive together, if they cannot take public transport, in order to reduce the number of cars on the road. This will reduce their carbon footprint, as well as create team spirit between staff members.

Travel to meetings on public transport, rather than using company or personal cars. If the meeting is nearby, encourage your employees to walk there instead!