A major concern for businesses all over the world is being environmentally friendly. A great way for organizations to obtain this objective is to reduce their carbon footprint. For some fields, this is a more difficult goal to achieve. One industry that often struggles to effectively reduce its carbon footprint is the transportation industry. The transport of goods and people is one of the highest portions of business operations that increase their carbon footprint. As the transportation industry is almost solely focused on this, it automatically creates a higher carbon footprint than others. Nevertheless, there are still many great ways for transportation companies to decrease their carbon footprint and its overall impact.
Hire a Professional
One of the easiest ways that a transport trade can work to become more environmentally friendly, is to seek out the guidance of an experienced, respectable transportation consulting company. Getting help from another business, especially one that is solely dedicated to figuring out the most efficient paths and methods for transporting goods, services, and individuals, is a great way to ensure your transportation business is finding and engaging the most sustainable solutions possible. A good transportation consultant can help a business optimize their routes to travel along the least distances required, simultaneously saving you time, money, and reducing your carbon footprint. Your consultant can also help you maximize the use of your trucks, trains, and airplanes to help keep your fuel consumption and carbon output as low as possible.
Go Paperless
Another way to cut down on your carbon production is to use less paper. Trees are this world's natural way of recycling and filtering out the carbon dioxide that humans and business operations produce and creating oxygen-rich, clean air through a process called photosynthesis. Using less paper while conducting your operations will help keep trees rooted in the ground and allow them to do what they do best. Try switching to digitized ordering and scheduling processes, such as email and mobile phone applications, to get rid of large quantities of paper. Also make sure to encourage and incentivize the paperless option with both your employees and your clients.
Plant Trees
On top of reducing your use of paper, you can further help by planting more trees to offset any paper use you do have to continue. Forming initiatives to plant a certain number of trees per a specific percentage of paper usage is a great way to show your care for the environment. Consider partnering up with the local areas that you transport too as well. You should try to directly plant trees in the parks and neighborhoods near your offices and warehouses as well as along your transportation routes.
Update Your Technology
A final way to help reduce your carbon footprint is to keep your transportation technologies up to date. Research into cleaner fuels or alternative energy sources. For instance, many trains are fully electric now and electric semi-trucks are also being looked into. Even if alternative fuels are not a possibility, you can still help by training your employees in reduction habits. Teach employees about the dangers of unnecessary idling and how to prevent it. There are even vehicle systems that easily stop and start the engine with a press of a pedal or push of a button to turn vehicles off when stuck at a light, in a traffic jam, or otherwise stopped.
Use the above methods to help save time and money for your transportation business and become more environmentally friendly in your affairs at the same time. Using companies to help you optimize your routes and maximize your transport services, going paperless, planting trees, and seeking alternatives to fossil fuel consumption and usage practices can all help transport you and this world into a better, safer, more sustainable future.
About The Author
stash member Vincent Stokes
Vincent Stokes is an outdoor enthusiast and an experienced world traveler. He also writes writes for the National Parks and works to promote pride in homegrown travel destinations. (@TravelingGlobal)