Original article appeared in the The Globe and Mail, by ALEX BOZIKOVIC.

These days, Ron Dembo makes a business out of helping people reduce their ecological impact—which means lots of flying to see conservation models in action.

Mileage: Two flights a month, often to B.C. or overseas—recently to South Africa and Vanuatu .

What do you think about air travel, which is highly polluting? ‘It’s a necessity in a global world. Our answer is offsets, together with conservation and the three R’s: renew, recycle and restore. We offset other people’s travel and ours as well.’ .

Packing strategy: ‘I travel extremely light: A roll-on, a backpack, and a FireWire drive with whatever I’m currently working on. If I’ll be staying in good hotels, I’ll bring a couple of pieces and just wash them.’

Travel dress code: ‘As a social venture CEO, you get a cool jacket made of hemp and it works in formal or informal events.’ Gadgets: ‘I think the BlackBerry is the most important thing in my life. I’m in touch with the people I work with around the world, and it works as my alarm clock.’

Travel ritual: Swimming. ‘I used to choose hotels by the length of their swimming pools.’

As the founder of Algorithmics (which specializes in risk management), do you worry about flying? ‘I make conscious decisions to avoid certain carriers where I’m uncertain about the quality of the pilots. Some have very poor records—Azerbaijan Airlines you wouldn’t want to fly.’