In this month’s article from the Thinking Green campaign, working with you to make the optical world more sustainable, we’re looking at how to make travel more sustainable.
This is something that you, your team and your patients and customers can get involved in for maximum impact.
While not all suggested activities will work for those in practice, if you can encourage just 10 per cent of patients to move to a more sustainable way of travel you will have a big impact.
This month’s quick wins include:
• Talking to staff about how the team could move to public transpor/walking/ride sharing/cycling?
• Offering remote work/working from home where feasible
• Holding staff meetings virtually where it will reduce travel
You can read how looking at travel to work was part of Coleman Opticians’ sustainability journey.
Take some time to review business travel where appropriate. This may not be an issue if you work in a practice, but if you are a rep you may be putting in a lot of miles.
If you have business vehicles, have you swapped to hybrid or electric vehicles? You can read how Wolf Eyewear has made the move here. If you manufacture and deliver items, this could have a significant impact – and be a selling point for your customers too.
If you work in practice, why not find out how patients travel to get to you? Carry out a survey: ask everyone who comes into the practice today. Find out what would help them switch to a more sustainable way of getting to see you.
Make sure you have public transport routes on your website to make it easier for patients to get to you that way.
More ideas for the long-term include installing electric car charging points.
Stay in touch
Tell us what you’ve done this month; we’d love to see a photo of how you are switching to sustainable travel. Sharing on social media will help inspire others. Use the hashtag #thinkinggreen and we’ll reshare it.
Making great progress? Why not submit a case study about your journey to sustainability?
Remember to pick at least one activity to work on this month, and watch out for another article next month with more inspiring sustainable ideas.
This article includes some of the tips that you can get after you complete the Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool, which you can find here. If you haven’t yet done the questionnaire, it is a great place to start your journey to a more sustainable practice in 2022. You can also opt in to get tips to your inbox each week.