Five Ways To Make Your Business Trip Eco-Friendly
Julie Starr • January 13, 2021
Business travel
is a very important piece of the puzzle for some businesses to be able to thrive. The only issue that some businesses have with it is that they want to keep their carbon footprint low while also continuing to achieve their client goals. Some businesses need to face time with their clients to know that they are keeping on top of things.
The thing is, business trips aren’t always within your control. You may have to travel, even when you’d prefer to avoid it and this is true of every industry. This doesn’t mean that you can ignore the impact that you have on the environment. When you travel, you make sure that you move your money with the most efficient Euro bank account possible, so why wouldn’t you ensure that your movements are also efficient and eco-friendly? Below, we’ve got some of the most environmentally-friendly practices you could take on to honor your green footprint and keep your impact to the world as low as possible.
- Choose a hotel that aims to be sustainable and eco-friendly in its efforts. There is an Earth Regarded Hospitality map that can tell you whether a hotel is eco-friendly or not. You can look at prioritizing sustainable hotels this way, and if your company sticks to a specific eco-friendly hotel, it could be a good link on your website and vice versa to show that you are supportive of sustainable businesses.
- The next eco-friendly choice you can make is with specifically environmentally-conscious restaurants. Locally-sourced ingredients, farm to table restaurants are the best out there for this and you can plan for this ahead of time to ensure that you are going to be eating with a business that makes cars. You can also go veggie for your meal options to have a lower impact on the environment, too.
- Look at the way you plan to travel. A hire car with a driver isn’t the most energy-efficient, but a train could get you where you need to go with a very low footprint. You could also go by ferry instead of a short plane ride depending on where you are headed. England to France, for example, can be achieved by the ferry at Dover.
- You can advocate for your business by purchasing carbon offsets, too, for all travel out of the office. This means that you can call your travel that is unavoidable “carbon neutral”. It’s going to incentivize your business to choose travel methods that really do reduce the carbon footprint you make. For example, renting a hybrid vehicle over an SUV.
- Lastly, you could avoid travel as much as possible by telecommuting. Facetime can be done via FaceTime, making a big difference to the world in an instant. You can learn to change the need for face to face meetings in-person to using the technology that is given to us right now. Don’t buy into traveling if you can see your clients for free via a screen.
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.