Last month Stephanie and Benny were the first BWCE staff to take advantage of our new Climate Perks scheme, resulting in an estimated carbon saving of 735kgCO2e – an 85% reduction!
A fundamental aim of BWCE is to help create the socially just, low carbon future we all want to live in. Decarbonising heating and building new community owned low carbon generation is a major part of this solution, but we know that not everything can be solved by renewable electricity.
Aviation is a one of those technologies which can’t currently be electrified, and is also the fastest growing source of greenhouse emissions; such that by current trends flying will account for a staggering 25% of the UK’s entire carbon emissions by 2050. This means we urgently need to think more creatively about how to shift to a culture of lower carbon travel – and that’s where Climate Perks caught our attention.
Climate Perks is an opportunity for employers to support their staff to travel in a more environmentally friendly way by offering additional paid ‘journey days’ to staff who travel on holiday by land or sea rather than air. This is not the same as just giving staff more time off; instead it means compensating for the extra journey time required to travel in a more sustainable way, and thus empowering busy staff to act on their principles without having to sacrifice precious holiday entitlements.
The first two BWCE staffers to take advantage of the new policy were Stephanie Butler (Communications and Customer Liaison Officer) and Benny Talbot (Technical Lead, Community Business Development). Both opted to travel by train rather than flying.
- Stephanie took the Eurostar, TGV and local trains to Antibes in the South of France.
- Benny travelled via Eurostar, TGV and sleeper train to Barcelona.
As for impact: If these journeys had been made by plane, they would have likely resulted in around 878kg CO2e emissions. Switching to train will have slashed this by almost 85%, to closer around 143kg Co2e. This carbon saving is equivalent to one person giving up car travel for half a year, and hopefully its only the start!
There are additional benefits that come with travelling by train, which include: the time to absorb and enjoy the passing scenery, avoidance of flying anxiety, and how ‘slow travel’ helps us appreciate geography and distance that air travel has turned into a quick convenience. It is expensive to travel by train, and it takes a lot of planning, but Climate Perks has supported both Benny and Stephanie to act on their principles!
Find out more about Climate Perks and what it would mean for your organisation to join.
Carbon savings calculations based on LNER’s Carbon Calculator.
