Stimulate Sustainable Travel

Young Mavericks is joining the youth-driven movement to take ownership of the climate crisis by inspiring their employees to reduce their carbon footprint. Starting in 2020, Young Mavericks is adding a new employment benefit to stimulate more sustainable travel by discouraging the least sustainable means of travel: flying. From then on, anyone who does not use an aircraft within a calendar year will receive two extra vacation days. This policy rewards the employee for reducing their carbon footprint while also giving them the time and freedom to make a difference. 

Motivated to Cut Carbon

Recent environmental research has shown that simple lifestyle adjustments such as abstaining from cars, meat and air travel have a large aggregate impact on lowering atmospheric carbon emissions. Out of all of these, lowering the impact of air travel has been the most underestimated. We believe the Netherlands, where bikes and public transportation are popular and per capita car ownership is below the EU average, is the perfect place to implement low-carbon staff journey days. On top of this, our central location in Northern Europe makes travel by land practical and enjoyable. Our motivation is to raise awareness of sustainable travel by offering more days off so that we can move people to reach their destination without boarding a plane.

Incentive-Based Behavior Change

Many of our employees make trips by air that can be completed by other means. Giving them two extra holiday days gives them the incentive and opportunity to choose alternative transportation or destinations. Traveling by train, for example, can be a much more relaxing and rewarding experience and open up new areas that are off the beaten tourist path. Overall, we are hoping to expand our employees’ access to leisure time in a way that aligns their well-being with the well-being of our planet. We understand, of course, that not every employee will be able to use this option, but we are convinced that any step towards a more prosperous future must be taken immediately.