Tips for greener trips: how FT readers cut carbon

Top tip: catch the train [from the UK] to Europe. Sounds obvious, but in the past, flying somehow always seemed cheaper and faster. Recently, I have had several experiences where the train could compete both in terms of cost and schedule. For example, I’m going to a workshop next Monday and Tuesday. Today (Wednesday), I booked a Eurostar return trip that will get me there late on Sunday and back home within seven hours of the end of the workshop. No airline could compete on the combination of schedule and cost (approximately €300 return) — Adam Bostanci, science writer, Meldreth, UK

Take the train to the airport and pack light (less weight = less CO2). And now I’ve stopped collecting hotel shampoos — Simon Chaplin, CFO, Lausanne, Switzerland

Choice of aeroplane model: preferring turboprops over jets. I’m based in Helsinki and most of my flights are short hops around northern Europe. Most of my routes are served by multiple airlines and multiple aeroplane types. A full emissions analysis would be too hard to do every time, but a good rule of thumb is to choose turboprops wherever possible — typically around one-third of the emissions of a jet on a short hop — Toby White, digital engineering, Helsinki, Finland

Don’t travel in premium cabins. Your larger seat means a larger carbon footprint — Jeffrey Miyamoto, investment analyst, Hamilton, Bermuda

Move from business class to economy and use the savings to support your favourite charity. This will cut your environmental impact, reduce global poverty and increase your happiness. What’s not to like? — Marcin Piatkowski, economist, Beijing, China

[When flying] I order a vegetarian meal and bring my own drinking water in a reusable bottle. I also think airlines should allow customers to opt out of a meal. There have been so many times, especially on shorter flights, where I have been offered a full meal outside mealtimes, and it’s just unnecessary food. Opting out when booking could save airlines money, and it also helps save the planet — Camille, academic, London, UK

Whenever possible, if travelling alone, book a room with a single bed to minimise the environmental impact of bed-linen laundry — Thomas Jelley, corporate responsibility, Espoo, Finland

I book my flights through fly-eco.com, a flight comparison site. It is like Kayak or Skyscanner, but it automatically takes care of all the CO2 offsetting without extra charges for the passengers. It’s a unique approach that ensures enough trees are planted or saved to at least 100 per cent offset the CO2 from my flights. And it all happens without any extra CO2 payment from me. I just select the flight. Fly-eco.com then receives money from the airline or agent for my booking and reuses most of it to buy the trees and invest in eco projects — Andrew Pozniak, aviation consultant, Geneva, Switzerland

If you are not ready to make the switch from air travel to train, how about a hedged taster bet? Take the train to your destination and then fly back. From London, this works well with Edinburgh, Newquay, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and even as far as Düsseldorf or Cologne.

Aside from timing your door-to-door travel time in each direction (so you can make a like-for-like comparison after you’ve arrived home), take note of how you felt during the trip, and, importantly, what you did during the entire travel time. If you are shying away from train travel because you fear wasting valuable time, make a rough plan before you leave of how to divide your travel time between various work and/or leisure tasks on your to-do list. The Screen Time iPhone app, or an Android equivalent, can help with this — Thomas Schmidt, mining, London, UK

Choose an airline with the latest aircraft. Consider breaking ultra-long travel into four- to nine-hour legs. Flights longer than 11 hours can burn 50 per cent of the fuel carried just to carry the fuel. Medium-haul burns only 20-25 per cent of the fuel carried to carry the fuel — Alf Ridd, pilot, UK

Nothing will beat not flying, but business, far-flung family and other commitments force us to travel by air. If you can, fly economy over business class. I bring a reusable bottle with me, so I don’t have to rely on plastic. Most travellers don’t need business or first-class amenity kits — try not to open them and leave them on the plane so they can be given to the next passenger. Take public transport instead of a taxi to the airport when it makes sense — Gosha Khuchua, advertising, Los Angeles, California, US

WoodBerry Travel plants a tree for every holiday booked [via Tree Aid]. Little things make big differences — David Simpson, data analytics, London, UK

Think like a student. Use Skype and calls rather than travel. Fly economy. Take public transport when you arrive. Always reuse your towels where you stay. Take a metal water bottle with you through the day rather than buying bottled or using the plastic cups at the water bubbler in the gym. Eat two meals a day, not three. Run outside rather than using the gym treadmill. Take the key out of the slot so that the air con isn’t running when you’re not in your hotel room, and ensure the lights are off. Avoid using the free hotel plastic toothbrushes, bathrobes and single-use slippers. Take the stairs, not the lift. Avoid space-inefficient suites at all costs — George Horsington, manager, Zug, Switzerland

Establish a reasonable shadow price for your time in terms of CO2 emission. Using this, calculate the time and CO2 emission for each alternative travel option, and choose an option over another one only if the time you gain does not cost you more in terms of CO2 emission than the value of this time based on your shadow price. To calculate a reasonable shadow price, simply take your estimate of the monetary value of your time and divide it by a reliable estimate of the social cost of carbon. I would suggest $100 per ton. Sounds complicated, but I think a simple app can give the values for each option — István Szekely, economist, Boulder, Colorado, US

Take a water bottle with you. In Europe, almost all tap water is drinkable and the flight crew happily fill your bottle rather than handing out cups. The amount of waste reduced is massive, and it will probably encourage you to keep your fluid levels up. The same goes for reusable cutlery and coffee cups. It takes up space, but again, such a waste saver! Try to eat local food. Step out of your comfort zone, embrace the culture and ditch the chains — Nathalie Crahay, marketing manager, London, UK

Pick airlines with the highest load factor and pick the biggest plane possible. Between Embraer-190 and Boeing 737-800, pick the 737. Fuller, bigger planes result in lower emissions per passenger carried. Avoid London City airport — only small planes.

Replace a sector with rail. This is often quicker than a layover and a connecting flight. Splash out on first-class trains. Eurostar’s ski train to the Alps is nicer than flying to Geneva and taking the bus. (Plus, one can transfer Amex points to Club Eurostar.)

Pack light, take just your carry-on and fly with a tiny backpack. Use Ikea’s travel vacuum bags (roll them to deflate clothes, without the need for a vacuum cleaner). Pack a water bottle, refill it at airports and on board. Buy a camping clothes line and use it in the hotel room. Pick apartment hotels instead of full-service hotels. Skip the daily maid.

Extend work trips into holidays, thus cutting round-trip holiday flights — Dimitri John Ledkov, senior software engineer, London, UK

This is going to sound ridiculous, but just give it one short moment of consideration: imagine going on an East Asian business trip and it comes with seven days of relaxation. So much mental space and time for creativity that you get a whole year’s worth of new ideas out of it. I’m a UK expat living in China, and I really did take the train all the way once. You forget how much you can achieve with no wake-up time, no bedtime, no calls. Take the train there and fly back. This way, when you arrive in Beijing you will have absolutely no jet lag. Imagine what that does for your negotiating — Kevin Munns, language services, Chongqing, China

Take just a carry-on. This reduces the weight of the aircraft, which leads to less fuel usage. Don’t buy travel-size toiletries that are disposable. Buy glass bottles and refill with your day-to-day toiletry needs — Harjeet Sadera, banker, Toronto, Canada

I grew up a globetrotter. I moved from France to the US when I was 14 and ever since then, travelling long distance has been part of my yearly routine. I have lived in Spain, Japan and Italy, and have work conferences all over the world. All this adds up, and my carbon footprint is really suffering. Other than this, I am that person who always carries a flask, shops locally, makes my own detergents and will avoid plastic like the plague. Today, whenever I can I take the train. Milan, Paris and London are well connected by fast trains, and I can work without interruption for a couple of hours — it’s a win-win! When I book flights, I pay the carbon offset — it’s usually a small fee that adds up to helping fight climate change.

And, yes, I try to travel eco-consciously. For example, you can find great recommendations for business hotels on Positive Luxury — Laetitia Lagarde, lawyer, Milan, Italy