Air travel has a significant impact on the climate -- it's 5-10% of our contributions to global warming pollutants. In addition, traveling for business can be one of the great (mis)adventures in life: getting to the airport, getting through security, waiting for a delayed plane, sitting in a down-sized seat without legroom, circling your destination, waiting for luggage, filing a report when it doesn't turn up, traffic from the airport, a lost reservation at the hotel, a noisy air conditioner next to your room, a stale breakfast, and then a bleary-eyed workday.

So what are you to do? Alternatives are available that are accessible and affordable for everyone. The proliferation of broadband and wireless networks have made it both less expensive and more productive to work remotely. Many companies like GE and Pepsi are taking advantage of the opportunities to use various conferencing strategies instead of traveling. British Telecom has been able to avoid 860,000 meetings worldwide (10% of those in air travel trips), saving more than $400 million in time and travel costs in the past year.

Audio teleconferencing is the easiest solution, but what if voice is not enough? That's where video conferencing comes in. In terms of the climate, instead of flying cross-country, for every 3 meetings that you hold by video conference, you do as much to protect the environment as if you were taking a car completely off the road for an entire year. Web conferences are growing in popularity because of their convenience, cost-effectiveness and the variety of features and capabilities that allow you to share data. The bottom line is that whether you video conference, web conference, gather around a speaker phone, instant message, or even exchange faxes of your picture with voice bubbles, there are some very effective alternatives to air travel and each time you use an alternative you are making a difference for the climate. So next time you organize or need to attend a meeting, consider the alternatives.

What are the alternatives to traveling to a meeting?

  • The Good Old Phone:
    • The simplest and least expensive phone teleconference is a three-way call.

    • Use a speakerphone to connect two groups of people.
    • A bridge line connects groups of any size: individuals call in to a designated number (sometimes toll-free) or an operator or moderator calls each participant. The cost is greater than a speakerphone but sound quality is better.
  • The Video:
    • The cheap and easy option is an $800 laptop and a $30 webcam. Some computers like the MacBook even come with cameras embedded in the screen.

    • The more expensive but higher quality option is a commercial video conferencing system in the hundreds to thousands of dollars.
    • HP has one such system where the participants feel like they're sitting across the table from each other. Unfortunately, that costs several hundred thousand dollars per system. Which is to say you must double that cost if you want the people in the other location to be able to participate.
    • Click here for some videoconferencing reviews and comparisons.
  • Data sharing:
    • Web conferencing software allows meeting participants in different locations to share slide presentations, electronic white boards, pictures or video, documents and files, and allow screen sharing and instant messaging (IM).
  • Tips:
    • Don't keep fiddling with your camera, you'll make people seasick.
    • Don't play with the special effects. Yes, we would all like to be the next Steven Spielberg, but Steven did not start by directing video conferences.
    • Have one conversation at a time - side conversations are not as quiet as you think they are.
    • Let others speak; often multiple voices at the same time don't work well.
    • Don't hum or snore.
    • Do share with everybody what a good thing you are doing for our planet by videoconferencing and try to encourage others to do the same.