Travel Places becomes carbon literate

Travel Places has pledged to become a ‘carbon literate’ organisation, underlining our ongoing commitment to sustainability.

This pledge has seen us put a number of our teams through carbon literacy training this year with Climate EQ, supporting our staff to understand the drivers behind the decisions we make around sustainability, and the steps that can be taken by our own business as well as our clients to reduce carbon emissions.

Flying the flag for sustainability at Travel Places, our first champion groups completed their course in 2022, with more staff set to become carbon literate in the new year. Designed to provide an awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and the impacts of everyday activities, the Carbon Literacy course motivates attendees to reduce emissions, on an individual, community, and organisational basis.

In order to gain certification, our ‘carbon literate’ champions have made a range of creative and ambitious personal and group commitments for reducing carbon at work, including the development of a car-share initiative and the introduction of plant-based milk alternatives.

Becky Thomas, Head of HR at Travel Places, took part in the carbon literacy course earlier this year:

“Whilst I only live around 8 miles away from the office, travelling by car each day was having a significant impact on the environment over the year and the training highlighted the positive effect that a change could have.

“My pledge as part of the training was to look into alternative options for getting to work. As a reluctant cyclist, it was a significant commitment for me but using the Travel Places cycle to work scheme, I have now invested in an e-bike. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who, like me, needs the extra help when cycling – with minimal effort you zip along as if the wind is behind you pushing you along. Not only will I be reducing my own carbon emissions, but I hope to get fitter too. It’s a win, win!”

Our sustainability journey

We are proud to support our clients in delivering incredible events that have a positive impact on many lives. But we also appreciate the impact that these activities can have on our resources, society and the environment.

Tackling sustainability effectively is a big challenge for our sector, but one that that we are fully committed to. Having gained ISO 20121:2012 certification for Sustainable Event Management this year, we have the tools to support our clients to design and manage group movements built on the most sustainable processes. And by providing our clients with the ability to measure and report on their impact, we can support continuous improvement.

Whilst supporting our clients to cut carbon emissions, we are also working to reduce those of our own business, encouraging sustainable behaviour from our staff, and incorporating sustainability criteria when we procure goods and services. Carbon literacy training supports us to embed sustainability ‘best practice’ that goes further to minimise the impact of our own attendance and involvement in events.

Carbon Neutral

Whilst we are working hard to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that our business is responsible for, we cannot remove emissions altogether. We are proud to be a carbon neutral business, having offset those that emissions that we can’t avoid by financing a Gold Standard Biomass Energy Conservation in Malawi.

Find out more about the Travel Places sustainability journey here.