Better Places Joins Program That Encourages Trains Over Planes
Better Places, a Certified B Corporation and trailblazer in sustainable travel, recently joined the Climate Perks program that rewards workers for choosing train travel instead of flying.
Based in the Netherlands, Better Places strives to improve communities—for those who live there and those who visit. Founded in 2014 and a B Corp since 2018, Better Places offers a global travel network with about 40 destinations. Better Places travelers are encouraged to respectfully connect with locals, tread lightly on the environment, and spread the economic impact of their travels as widely as possible.
Climate Perks was recently launched by 10:10, a United Kingdom-based climate solutions nongovernmental organization, as a way for travelers to mitigate the carbon footprint and environmental impact of their flights. Globally, the aviation industry produces about 2% of all greenhouse gas emissions—and demand for flights is growing.
According to Climate Perks, about 50% of people are willing to reduce the amount they fly to reduce their impact on our environment— but only 3% do because of the additional time required for train travel.
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Climate Perks works with climate-conscious employers to offer paid “journey days” to staff who opt against flying — empowering them to act on their values. In exchange, employers receive Climate Perks accreditation in recognition of their climate leadership.
The new Climate Perks program means Better Places employees now receive two extra days off if they choose to travel to their holiday destination by train, and an extra day if they opt for in-destination train travel (longer than eight hours) rather than flying.
As one of the first travel companies to join the Climate Perks program, Better Places aims to encourage others to join the effort and take the train.
“It is important to set a good example, and with this initiative you make the choice for a train journey a lot more attractive,” says Saskia Griep, founder and CEO of Better Places. “It is up to the employee to determine whether to opt for this. In this way, we can reward sustainable behaviour and let employees experience for themselves that traveling by train is more attractive choice than it might initially seem.”
Griep hopes other tour operators and sustainably minded companies will follow suit—as she herself is doing.
“I am also opting for a train journey this summer,” Griep says. “I am going by train to Geneva and then by bus and boat to Albania. Booking the train journey was easier and cheaper than I thought. Climate Perks is a great, positive initiative that many companies can implement very easily.”
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
B Corp on Track to Reduce Workers’ Carbon Footprint While Traveling was originally published in B the Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
