We’re super excited about what we’ve done so far (link to ‘Our Responsible Journey So Far) to make our workspace and your adventures more sustainable.
But we understand our sustainability journal needs regular updates. So, this is how we aim to reduce our carbon footprint in the future.
Read on.
The Green Team
Our headquarters already have several initiatives benefitting the climate.
From reducing our paper and plastic use, to recycling hubs and solar panels on our roof, and then electric vehicles and the corresponding charger points, we’re proud of what we’ve done so far.
But we want to bring more by reducing even further.
And we have our Green Team who are a focal point for us all to feed our green ideas through. So, what will they do?
Well, they have four main sub-groups targeting certain areas. Here they are:
- Green HQ: we’ll look for greener ways in our workspace.
- Community Action: here, we’ll work with our local community by fundraising and volunteering.
- Supplier Partnerships: we’ll work with suppliers to be more sustainable.
- Working with Groups: in partnership with us, one of our VA family will chat with you or your party leader on how you can make your trip more sustainable.
To Become Travelife Certified
Travellife is an ABTA and ANVR endorsed certification that can educate us further in sustainability.
And learning each day is important, with Travelife offering huge potential in our sustainable goals.
They’ll deliver environmental training, a HQ emissions assessment, access to their management system (which allows us to see where we can improve) and connection with similar organisations striving towards a sustainable future.
Providing Carbon Labelled Tours
We’re hugely excited about this prospect but understand it’s ambitious to label every tour with its emissions, consumption and carbon usage.
However, we’re still pushing for labelled itineraries and quotes to give you a more thorough understanding of emissions from one of your trips.
With that said, our first aim is to cover all transport and accommodation emissions.
Certified Carbon-Balanced HQ
Our solar panels are one part of our plan to reduce, or balance, our headquarters’ emissions. Also, we’re reducing paper, plastic, water and loads more that you can find here.
But we understand it’s a real challenge to reduce our non-sustainable consumption by 100%.
So, moving forward we’ll be working with the organisation C-Level to balance our emissions we’re unable to reduce on our own.
Collaborating with C-Level
For companies who are unable to reduce their carbon footprint on their own, or who need direction, C-Level can help.
The initiative promises collaboration between C-Level and us to offset our emissions, or as they put it: become carbon-balanced. They’ll consult and gives us the tools to work out unavoidable based emissions and how we can balance them.
And in those areas where reduction isn’t possible, we can carbon-balance our output by sponsoring global projects with C-Level. They aim to provide resources to local communities so conservation, protection, and ultimate continued life cycle of our natural resources is defended.
Projects like the award-winning mangrove conservation on the south coasts of Kenya, the protection of 8 Natural Protected areas in Mexico and the reforestation CommuniTree project in Nicaragua.
And you can find more on C-Level’s website.
Offering a Carbon Offsetting Solution
For unavoidable emissions or those we can’t reduce, we want you with the option of carbon-balanced trips.
Which is why, one of our future aims is to include a carbon calculator on our site where you can fully visualise your trips emissions.
With that, you can choose to balance your emissions on your own, or your Venture Abroad costs can include a small surcharge so we can balance them for you.
Coming Together with Local and International Communities
As a family-run business for over 45 years, we’re hugely proud of our standing within the many communities of Derby.
Also, as a tour operator for almost five decades, we’ve built a trusted relationship with communities on the international scene.
There, we work with local hotels and restaurants to provide the local economy with sustainable income and repeat business.
Plus, helping your local economy helps conserve fuel, cuts fuel costs, reduces traffic congestion and lessens air as well as water pollution.
Make It Easier to See Our Greener Tours
This is a big one as it means compartmentalising every part of your tour to emphasise the environmental aspects.
It’s a challenge, but our goal is to showcase each trip with an emphasis on the green elements.
So, it means we have to assess parts like our hotels, excursions, local restaurants and sustainable suppliers to give you a fuller picture of your adventures carbon footprint.
Long-Term Climate Goals
And this is how we aim to reduce our carbon footprint!
Providing your unforgettable adventures is the essence of us as a business and with our long-term climate goals, we’re aiming to help the planet too.
If you have any queries, call us or get in touch with the button below.
