Transporting people is a crucial element of running a business. REI employees are on the go, whether it's commuting to and from work, visiting stores around the country or building relationships with our contract factories. Similar to our decision about when to count the impacts of goods, we needed to define when to count the impacts associated with moving people. For reporting purposes, we count the impacts when people are going places due to REI's business needs. We strive to find sensible ways to reduce the impact that our travel has on the environment, such as subsidizing alternative transportation for commuting employees, while supporting essential corporate travel that is aligned with our business and company culture.

Employee Commuting: Estimated 21% of total GHG emissions

At the end of 2006, we had more than 9,000 full- and part-time employees nationwide, most commute back and forth to work. We count the GHG emissions generated by our employees' commuting patterns because it is a significant part of our GHG impact and a challenge we need to address. Offering commuting options will not only help offset some of REI's GHG impacts, it can enhance our employees' quality of life and may ultimately improve our ability to recruit and retain great people.

In 2006, REI used two methods to compute the CO2 impact of employee commuting. We conducted a detailed employee survey about commuting habits at our Kent, Wash., headquarters, where approximately 750 REI employees are based. This survey revealed actual miles traveled, type of transportation (i.e., single occupancy vehicle, bus, bike or train), and the number of days employees are using each commuting method. Based on this, we found that our headquarters employees approximately 4.5 million single occupancy vehicle miles and 2 million miles by other means - biking, van pools, etc.

For employees at our Sumner, Wash,. distribution center and at our 89 retail locations, we used a sample process to estimate of commuting patterns and compared this data to survey results from our headquarters. We then estimated our impacts nationwide.

In 2007, we will complete a full baseline analysis. To reduce REI's impact in this area, we will continue to encourage alternative transportation through public transportation subsidies, vanpools, bike work and various rewards.

Corporate Travel: Calculation 8.6%

To determine the GHG emissions for corporate travel in 2006, we used our travel booking software and computed the total miles flown for all employees, which was 12 million miles. We then used a calculator for CO2 per passenger mile based on the computations published by the Climate Neutral Network.