Sustainability

Sustainable Tourism

and Why it Matters

When it comes to the planet, we are committed to protecting it. We all emit too much carbon and we are on a mission to reduce our emissions and lower our carbon footprint year on year. We aren’t perfect but we are trying to be.

We believe in transparency.

You deserve to know everything about your trip, from what is included, where you go and every gram of CO2 emitted along the way. That is why on each trip we share the total carbon footprint per customer.

Why this matters

A 1.5°C increase in global temperatures will lead to a global shift in our weather patterns and biodiversity. This, in turn, will negatively impact us all from what we eat and what we do. The frightening thing is that we are on course for a 3°C increase. This is a global crisis that requires all of us to act immediately.

How travel can play its part.

Most travel companies are not as sustainable as they would like you to think. Many businesses talk the talk but do not walk the walk. The inconvenient truth is that flying creates a lot of carbon emissions, natural sights are struggling from over-tourism and people are not actually feeling refreshed when they come home. We believe in change.

Know your Impact.

Our outdoor, local and often human-powered adventures are always going to have a low carbon footprint. This is something worth shouting about and we believe it is the future of travel. If 2020 has taught us anything it is that we need to rebuild better. For travel, that means redesigning our trips to have a more positive impact on us and the world. Taking fewer flights is a must and if we’re serious about reducing the impact of our lifestyle on the climate, we must change our habits.

Aiming for Zero

It is not enough just to pat ourselves on the back for our low footprint, the aim is to reach zero. That is why we are working with our suppliers and ecollective to measure and reduce our footprint. By making small but effective changes we believe that we can reduce the carbon emitted per customer year on year.

It’s also why we’ve signed up to Tourism Declares, an initiative that supports tourism organizations, businesses and individuals in declaring the climate emergency and in taking purposeful action to reduce carbon emissions as per the advice of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030.

How we Compare

We wanted to bring to life how our adventures compare. Our adventures average at 16.7kg CO2e per person per day. You’d be hard pressed to find lower carbon emissions on a holiday, anywhere in the world!

An average person in the UK generates 10-30 CO2e per day so you might find you have a lower daily carbon footprint whilst on holiday with us in Cuba than if you stay at home.

Here are some things that you can compare that to:

A banana: 0.08kg CO2e
A Pint of Tap Water: 0.2g CO2e
An average Bottle of Mineral water 400g CO2e
A beer: 0.5kg CO2e
A mojito in Cuba: 0.15kg
A mojito in the UK: 0.4kg
A Margherita Pizza: 1.4kg
Driving 20 miles in the car: 5.6kg CO2e
Cycling 20 miles on a bike: 0kg CO2e
A typical European hotel with no eco credentials for the night 75kg CO2e
A typical Dubai hotel room for the night: 99kg CO2e
A typical Cuba Bed and Breakfast room for the night: 5kg CO2e
An economy ticket from London to Ibiza: 206kg CO2e
An economy ticket from London to Havana:1099kg CO2e
A business ticket from London to Havana: 3187kg CO2e

Accountability

The first step was partnering with ecollective to help us measure and improve our carbon footprint. Calculating your own carbon footprint can be a little complex as almost everything in our day to day lives has some sort of footprint. Our calculation system is not perfect, but it is highly accurate and allows us to see what we can improve.

For this project, we followed the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) and applied emission factors provided by DEFRA. To keep ourselves accountable and open to criticism, we are happy to share our workings. Just email us or ecollective to find out more.

We then joined the Tourism Declares movement and have committed to the following five actions:

We will develop a Climate Emergency Plan setting out how we aim to play our part in reducing carbon emissions over the next decade.
We will share our initial Climate Emergency Plan publicly and updating the plan yearly.
We accept current IPCC advice which states the need to cut global emissions by 55% of 2017 levels by 2030 in order to keep global warming within the maximum recommended of 1.5 Celsius. We’ll ensure our ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ represents actions designed to achieve this as a minimum, through delivering transparent, measurable and increasing reductions in the total carbon emissions per customer.
We will encourage our suppliers and partners to make the same declaration and take on board the recommendations and best practices outlined by Tourism Declares and actively participate in the Tourism Declares community.
We’ll continue to advocate for changes in the tourism industry so that we can help the transition towards carbon-free tourism.

The Future of Travel

We have a vision for the future, it is about getting outside, getting fresh mountain air, exploring wild spots and having an adventure whilst travelling responsibly. A future of travel that is more meaningful, healthier for us along with a greater positive impact. If you would like to know more about how we ensure that our tours are responsibly run please check out our Responsible Travel Policy.

A bit about ecollective

A team of self-confessed carbon geeks, ecollective is committed to helping businesses fight the climate crisis. They do this by making it as simple as possible to measure carbon performance today and providing tools to improve it tomorrow. By finding sustainable solutions that benefit the business, the customer and the planet, they create positive change, that is quantifiable.

If you would like to find out more about our methodology email info@ecollectivetravel.com.

Download our PDF here Download our PDF here