Sometimes the destination is only a short taxi ride away; sometimes it is a few hours on a train. On other occasions the meeting is in another country entirely.
The problem with meetings is the cost of travel to the environment. Emissions from car, train and plane journeys quickly add up, in most cases making a huge contribution to a company’s overall carbon footprint - for example, just one person flying from New York to London and back again creates 1.87 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Meetings are vital for business in a huge number of ways - from establishing rapport and forging new partnerships to saving time, motivating staff and discussing new ideas. But we need to be careful that the cost to the planet of attending these meetings doesn’t outweigh the benefit they can give.
Nowadays, modern technology provides a variety of tools to collaborate virtually via the internet. Broadband connections and advanced internet technology mean that more and more meetings can take place over the internet and achieve the same results, only without travel expenses or excess carbon emissions.
Modern web conferences also allow an unprecedented level of collaboration. VoIP or traditional conference lines allow all attendees to speak to each other, while webcams provide visual contact. All applications on a PC can be shared, meaning that you can give a presentation, display a video file, or even give others control over your desktop.
Imagine for example a businessman who travels around the country meeting with colleagues, partners or new customers. He might spend an hour in each meeting, but need two hours to travel between each. By moving these meetings to the online environment, he could conceivably double or even triple his productivity. Combining this with the benefit to the environment, the argument for webinars is strong. The possibilities presented by these technologies are numerous.
By considering which meetings can be held online rather than face-to-face, your business could take a huge step in reducing its carbon emissions, especially when overseas travel is required. You'll also find a number of other benefits to your business and its employees.
Firstly, your travel budget will be slashed, with the funds made available to invest in other areas of the business. Secondly, there are advantages for employees. Business travel is no longer necessarily seen as a glamorous perk of the job - in most cases it wastes valuable time while travelling to and from destinations and in extreme cases can alienate people from their family lives.
By reducing the amount of trips that employees take, you will find they get a lot more done in less time, while improving their home lives and reducing the impact of travel on the environment.
It is important to remember that webinars are not in a position to take over from all face-to-face communications. There will always be situations where meeting in person is essential for the success of the project or partnership. What we can do now, to benefit both ourselves and the planet, is understand there are a huge number of unnecessary business trips being taken every day, and take steps to reduce them.
Some components of travel cost are easy to measure on the balance sheet: the dollar cost of the tickets purchased, fuel used, and time spent unproductively.
For many companies theses costs alone are plenty to see significant savings using online meetings or webinars with all collaboration functionality but the hidden cost of CO2 emissions is just as significant. A daily cross-town trip in a vehicle (20 miles each way, 5 days a week) may produce 3.5 to 5 metric tons of CO2 annually, whereas a single round-trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo adds another 6 tons (and costs upwards of $6,000).
Airplanes exhaust is mostly carbon dioxide (CO2), and airplanes deliver this greenhouse gas directly into the most sensitive portion of our atmosphere, the delicate upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, five to seven miles up from Earth’s surface. Check how much you can reduce your own carbon footprint by traveling less and meeting more online:
|
From |
To |
Round Trip CO2 |
|
New York |
Los Angeles |
2.46t |
|
Los Angeles |
Tokyo |
5.90t |
|
London |
New York |
3.69t |
|
Los Angeles |
Sydney |
6.64t |
|
Sydney |
Tokyo |
4.91t |
|
Tokyo |
Beijing |
1.97t |
|
Beijing |
Hong Kong |
1.72t |
|
Singapore |
Dubai |
3.69t |
|
Frankfurt |
London |
0.85t |
|
Paris |
Rome |
1.11t |
|
Miami |
Rio de Janeiro |
4.18t |
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