Hayley Berg - Fri Apr 21 2023
As travel demand continues to surge globally and as we approach the busy summer travel season – we recognize the impact that travel has on our environment.
Despite the many positive social and economic advances travel brings to us all around the world, the impact on our planet remains top of mind for us at Hopper. While our customers, who are predominantly millennial and Gen Z, are eager to explore the world, they are equally interested in making a difference to better our environment. In fact, in a recent survey we conducted, 65% of Hopper users said they are interested in offsetting or reducing their own carbon footprint while traveling. At Hopper, we are committed to doing our part and continuing making forward progress toward a more sustainable future on behalf of our customers.
This Earth Day, we are proud to celebrate the steps we’ve taken through the Hopper Trees program. To date, we have planted over 25 million trees on behalf of our customers and have funded planting at 8 sites in Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique. Over the course of its lifetime, a tree will offset more than half a ton of CO₂.
In addition to drawing down carbon over the trees’ lifetime, reforestation and planting trees has many other great benefits — both for the environment and the surrounding communities, including growing habitats for animals, purifying water and soil, controlling flooding and erosion, and helping local communities.
We are dedicated to embedding sustainable decisions into every booking made on the app. Guided by the EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership Emission Factors report, for every flight, hotel, rental car or rental home booking made on Hopper, we automatically plant trees on behalf of our customers in an effort to help offset CO₂ emissions – without any cost to our users.
To hear more about the Hopper Trees program, check out this short video:
How can you travel more sustainably?
Simple tips on how to lower your impact while traveling this spring & summer:
Fly direct! Booking a non-stop flight to summer destinations can save both time and lower the environmental impact of your air travel!
Make it a StayCation! Hotels and vacation rentals often offer lower rates to locals, than to business travelers or those visiting from out of town.
Carpool! Consider skipping lines at security and opting for a scenic road trip to your destination. Carpooling with friends and family can lower the impact of your individual travel and lead to amazing summer adventures.
Book with Hopper! We’ll plant 2 trees for any flight, hotel, rental car or rental home booking you make.
Plan ahead for sustainable alternatives:
Bring a refillable water bottle or coffee mug: Stay hydrated on your trip and reduce single use plastics!
Take the bus: Travel to and from the airport using good old public transit, instead of a car or taxi.
Pack sustainably: Bring your own soaps and lotions so you won’t need to use the single use bottles offered at hotels. You reduce your single use plastics, and get to use your own favorite products!
Be a local: Look out for restaurants offering locally sourced food and buy products from small businesses.
To learn more about the Hopper Trees program visit: https://www.hopper.com/trees!