A little while back we featured buzzword bingo on Absolute Clarity (the number one travel management podcast – just in case you were wondering).
For those who didn’t listen, buzzword bingo is an internal game we play at Clarity where we highlight the buzzwords, we see every day and replace them with plain English. You’re probably asking what a buzzword is, so here – Let Me Google That For You.
Anyway, back to the story…
All talk, no action
Sustainability has become a popular buzzword in the travel industry and beyond, with most businesses promoting their new found green credentials and love for the environment. Who knew there were so many David Attenborough’s out there?
With so many people seemingly jumping on the bandwagon, it’s hard to separate the doers from the sayers. Many in the travel industry are talking about carbon offsetting, reducing harmful emissions through schemes or activities to compensate for other areas. For example, we know that planes produce harmful emissions but the reality of people no longer flying is as likely as Joaquin Phoenix just saying thank you for an award and walking offstage.
With so many talking about offsetting, we wanted to peel back the curtain and talk to you about what we do at Clarity, who with and why.
It’s all about the credentials
Let’s be honest, reputations matter. You wouldn’t hire a plumber if they had a review titled more craic less crack, so why would we partner with a sustainability partner that didn’t have a good reputation. Spoiler alert, we wouldn’t.
To begin the process of finding the right partner, we appointed green ambassadors in the business who were passionate about making a difference. You know the type, receiving an award and complaining that you printed it off on paper.
After some careful soul searching and note taking (on recycled paper, of course) we appointed ClimateCare; the number one ranked B Corporation in the UK and winner of the Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development for its outstanding contribution to tackling climate change and alleviating poverty (bet that didn’t fit on the trophy).
So far, so good. But those are just words on a website, what else have they done? Well, they’ve cut 35 million tonnes of Co2 while improving 37 million lives. They have a number of projects on the go, including protecting rainforests in Sierra Leone, providing efficient cookstoves in Kenya, and reforestation in Uganda, to name but a few.
How do we work with them?
Alongside offsetting our carbon for 2019 and beyond, we offer the ability for our clients to offset their overall air and rail Co2 emissions. Our online booking tool, Go2Book, gives a view of the emissions on each booking and we also offer advice on ways to save on emissions by taking trains instead of a flight by always showing the comparative rail journey on a flight that features one.
We’re not perfect when it comes to sustainability. There aren’t many that are, but we’ll continue to try and be better role models by practicing what we preach.
So, the next time a company tells you to think green, ask them how they do it and why. Information is power and any business failing to provide information either doesn’t know it or isn’t proud of it.
Until next time, be brighter.