Announcements
Stepping up as an environmental leader
Enterprise adds carbon offsets to its mix of earth-friendly programs
In the burgeoning industry of eco-friendly tourism, the phrase “Take only pictures and leave only footprints” serves as a guide for travelers who want to explore natural wonders without causing them harm. For customers who rent from Enterprise, the company now offers a way to make even those proverbial footprints smaller.
As the latest step in a growing procession of environmental programs, carbon offsets allow customers to support green energy projects just by renting a car. At the same time, the new program joins the rest of the company’s environmental platform in helping ensure the sustainability of Enterprise’s business for years to come.
Step one: What they are
Carbon offsets inevitably boil down to a basic principle: balance. By purchasing them, people can balance the negative environmental impact of their day-to-day activities, such as heating their homes, powering their appliances and – not surprisingly – driving their cars. The cost of these offsets is based on how much an activity contributes to an individual’s carbon footprint, a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases a person’s activities emit, measured in units of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Specifically with the Enterprise program, customers – including those renting from National and Alamo – can opt in during the reservation process, buying a carbon offset for $1.25, an amount based on what it would take to offset Enterprise’s total emissions from the past year. Today, the program is offered at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada, then will extend to Enterprise’s European customers in mid-2008.
“The fact that offsets allow our customers to participate in the process really appealed to us,” says Andy Taylor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Time and time again, they have told us that making sustainable choices when they rent a car is important to them. This carbon offset program empowers them to make that choice and address the impact of automobile emissions on climate change.”
When the program kicked off Jan. 1, Enterprise became the first major rental car company to offer a carbon offset option in North America. Enterprise opted to further the impact by agreeing to match all customer purchases of carbon offsets – dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million – through the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation.
Step two: How Enterprise’s involvement came about
Even with the company’s demonstrated interest in environmental concerns – and customers’ interest in such efforts – carbon offsets may not have appeared the most obvious choice as the next prong in the Enterprise platform. Still a relatively new concept, there was little precedent for how effective such programs could be and how consumers would respond.
So how did the investment in this program come to pass? The company’s 50th anniversary played a role. As he started thinking seriously about what Enterprise might look like over the course of the next 50 years, Andy felt cause for concern. To operate successfully, the company needs cars on the roads, and lots of fuel, readily available and at affordable prices. In an era of growing global warming concerns and increased emission regulations, the car-friendly culture of today could change radically in the not so distant future.
As a company that derives its living from 1.1 million combustion engines, Enterprise must stay at the forefront of any changes those attitudes might cause. It will work with a company called TerraPass – which calculates the amount of carbon emissions consumers generate due to specific activities and how much investment in green power it takes to neutralize those emissions – to administer the program.
Additionally, a large team comprised of a cross section of Enterprise departments came together to make carbon offsets a realistic option. The offsets had to be weaved into the text of the rental contracts. Legal had to make sure the program was clearly presented. National Reservations agents had to receive training on how to offer the program to customers. Information Technology had to develop systems to make the program available to visitors who booked through enterprise.com, nationalcar.com or alamo.com. And the program as a whole had to be publicly introduced.
“A lot of people jumped through all sorts of hoops to get this done,” says Pat Farrell, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Communications. “Inevitably, they made the effort because carbon offsets add a strong consumer component to our platform.”
Step three: How they fit into the environmental platform
In today’s marketplace, consumers choose to do business with companies that approach the world in a responsible manner. But they also want to know those businesses have committed to such an approach for the long term. That’s why
Enterprise’s carbon offset program joins an already established platform of earth-friendly initiatives adopted by the business, which includes:
• Conservation — Last year, Enterprise’s partnership with the National Arbor Day Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service was responsible for one-seventh of all trees planted in the national forests of the United States. Trees were planted in Canada and Scotland as well.
• Most fuel-efficient fleet — With some 47 percent of its worldwide rental fleet averaging a highway fuel economy of 28 miles per gallon and 28 percent averaging at least 32 miles per gallon, Enterprise has more fuel-efficient
vehicles than any other car rental company by far.
• Embracing new, clean technologies — When brought to the market in a viable manner, Enterprise will use its world’s largest fleet to give new technologies a chance. This has led the company to add 3,000 to
4,000 hybrids to its fleet as well as 41,000 FlexFuel cars and
trucks.
• Research — In 2007, Jack Taylor made a gift of $25 million to create the Enterprise Institute for Renewable Fuels, bringing together some of the world’s brightest minds to find long-term solutions that reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses in the air and lessen the world’s dependency on fossil fuels. With this $25 million gift, the Taylor family has pledged no less than $120 million to important environmental causes and initiatives in the past six years alone.
Step four: How we’ll measure the success
When all is said and done, it is expected that 20 to 25 million customers will have the option to purchase an offset when they make a reservation online or over the phone.
“It’s exciting to consider the potential of this program and the impact our customers could have on our environment,” says Pat. “Collectively, our initiatives give customers yet another reason to choose Enterprise and National and Alamo – and to keep coming back.”
At this point, all signs point to success. In a survey conducted while Enterprise management investigated the carbon offset option, 45 percent of consumers indicated they were either “a little” or “a lot” more likely to rent from a company that offered them. Thirty-six percent of consumers said they’d be “very likely” to pay $1 for a carbon offset, similar to the rate Enterprise has decided to charge. Initially, only customers who book their rentals themselves through National Reservations or through one of the Enterprise, National and Alamo Web sites will have the offset option.
After one year’s time, Enterprise will evaluate the program and determine its viability going forward. “In the end, the goal is to ensure the sustainability of our business and to create yet another competitive advantage for our company,” says Andy. “If we lose sight of that, even the biggest steps won’t keep us from losing our relevance with our customers.”
