Adventures in Good Company strives to be a leader in sustainable travel among travel companies. Our goal is to have a positive impact on the environment and cultures of the places we visit, and to minimize the adverse impacts of travel. As a corollary, we are deeply concerned about the impact of global climate change and work to minimize our “carbon footprint” in both the office and on trips.
We are constantly looking for new ways to achieve this goal. To that end we have become members of Sustainable Travel International. STI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “promote responsible travel and ecotourism, support sustainable development, and help travelers and travel providers protect the cultures and environments they visit.”
Our major initiatives in this area are the following:
1. We seek to be carbon neutral by minimizing our carbon emissions to the extent possible and purchasing carbon offsets for trip vehicle use and guide plane travel.
2. By 2010, we will provide opportunities for participants to easily purchase carbon offsets if they choose.
3. We work with local operators who work to preserve their natural and cultural environment and contribute to their communities.
4. We contribute at least 25% of pretax profits to non-profit organizations that further these goals and/or support sustainable development. In 2008 we contributed to Sustainable Travel International, Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, Oxfam America, Feeding America, and Great Old Broads for Wilderness.
5. We practice and teach Leave No Trace principles appropriate to the environment in which we're traveling.
Smaller scale initiatives include:
1. We limit our group size to 12 or fewer participants; in certain cases a larger group size (up to 14) may be acceptable. Frequently our group size will be smaller.
2. We buy organically grown or locally sourced food to the extent possible for our trips.
3. We serve shade grown fair trade coffee on our trips.
4. We recycle cans and bottles on trips wherever possible.
5. In the office we minimize our use of paper, recycle our paper and cardboard, and use recycled-content paper.
6. We use compact fluorescent bulbs for lighting in the office.
7. We keep temperatures at 68 degrees or below in winter and above 70 degrees in summer.
We are also exploring alternatives to drinking bottled water, particularly in countries that lack the resources to recycle plastic.
