CASE STUDY: Five ways to have a more sustainable travel programme

Going green is an increasingly important element of travel programmes. Business Travel iQ reports from the Business Travel Show Conference, where Carillion's travel manager Angela Smith shared the successes and failures within the company as it moves into a second five-year plan to become more sustainable.

Watch Business Travel iQ's interview with Angela below and see the green cycle she has adopted within her presentation.

1. Use sustainable suppliers. Carillion counts the carbon from hotels per night and many firms measure their footprint using the indexes set by local governments.

2. Consider new equipment and technology that could help you become more sustainable. Carillion shows CO2 emissions next to the options on its self-booking tool so travellers can see their impact on the environment.

3. Continuously engage with travellers and stakeholders. Angela has developed online courses that cover travel with sustainability modules, which aim to put sustainability into the culture of the company and its employees.

4. Risk an extreme route, but do so carefully. Angela tried a yearly 'no travel week' at Carillion which was so successful that it became a monthly occurrence. However this was too frequent and changed the dynamic, eventually only spreading the same level of travel into a shorter time frame.

5. Ask whether travel is needed for the meeting. Tele-web conferencing use has increased at Carillion since it proposed this option.