Responsible Business - Our Environment

• To ensure we're consistently working towards protecting the environment and using resources in an efficient, fair and responsible way.
• To ensure that our trips are designed in a way that limits the physical impact on the destinations we visit, so that they may be enjoyed by many generations to come.

In late 2010 we reached our goal to become a carbon neutral company. A goal that we set ourselves in December 2006 and achieved through our Carbon Management Plan.

The majority of Intrepid trips are Carbon Offset - that's over 800 trips! We measure and offset the main sources of emissions created on our trips by our passengers:

• Transport
• Accommodation
• Waste
   

Our trips are also low impact by design. How? We try to use public transport where possible, stay in locally owned and simpler styles of accommodation and eat at locally owned eateries where the food has been locally sourced, therefore reducing food mile emissions.

To minimise carbon emissions on Intrepid trips, we make the following considerations:

• Local Services - We engage locally-owned and operated services thereby supporting local people and not using long and carbon-intensive supply chains.
• Local Transport - We use local public transport wherever we can to reduce fuel usage per passenger.
• Water Conservation - We support initiatives that encourage conservative use of water and hot water such as low-flow shower roses.
• Local Food and Local Goods - We endeavour to include and strongly encourage our travellers to eat locally produced food and goods. This reduces the 'embodied energy' (energy consumed through production and transport) of the food and goods purchased by our passengers.
• Water Bottles - We encourage our passengers to refill a water bottle from water 'bubblers' where available to avoid unnecessary purchasing of bottled water and the subsequent waste disposal issues. In addition to the water in bottles, the production of a 1 litre plastic bottle takes 2 litres of water and 200ml of oil. Therefore for every 1 litre of water sold, 3 litres of water is used.
• Economic Empowerment - Economic empowerment of local communities through tourism can help improve education and health services, water supplies and sanitation and reduce dependence on non-sustainable livelihoods such as deforestation.
• Local Employment - We use local leaders and guides so that we learn about the culture and way of life directly from those who live it and put money into local hands and economies. We can particularly learn from indigenous rural communities about their relationship to the land and how they've practiced sustainable agriculture for centuries.
• Recycling - Intrepid leaders also provide travellers with awareness on how they can practice principles of reduce, reuse, recycle and appropriate waste disposal at their destination.

Since 2007, we've been offering all customers the opportunity to offset the most carbon intensive portion of their trip - their flight - when they book their air travel with us. The emissions produced from flights are calculated (from departure region to destination region) and the cost of offsetting that flight is then included in the price quoted. Carbon offsets are optional on the airfares we sell, however we do encourage our customers to help us tackle climate change by choosing this option.

So if you book a Carbon Offset Flight through Intrepid, you'll fly with the knowledge that your environmental impact has been reduced.

An impressive number of Intrepid travellers have chosen to book our Carbon Offset Flights. In the first year alone our travellers offset 18,700 tonnes of carbon! Since then, we've offset a further 27,400 tonnes, meaning over 45,000 tonnes of carbon emissions have been offset since 2007. That's equal to approximately the amount of carbon that 2,796,047 trees would absorb over 10 years, or taking over 4,753 passenger cars off the road for an entire year!* We thank our thoughtful passengers for their consideration of the environment.

Intrepid Travel currently offsets our carbon by investing in internationally accredited compliant projects that are based in our biggest destinations, including China, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Brazil. These projects not only offset Intrepid's emissions but they also improve the environment of the local communities by providing an alternative to fossil fuels and therefore produce less pollution. 

• Measure - We currently measure emissions from electricity, gas, waste, business travel and water. We have a comprehensive Carbon Assessment Worksheet that's completed annually by our global offices.
• Avoid - We adopt a number of energy efficiency measures including, but not limited to, automatic computer shut down at 8pm in our head office and Skype conferencing rather than travelling for face-to-face meetings.
• Reduce - We have significantly reduced paper waste and waste to landfill; many offices adopt a comprehensive recycling plan and we have reduced the number of business trips taken by management and staff on an annual basis.
• Offset - Whatever emissions can't be avoided are offset by our investment in high-quality renewable energy projects.

• We're using 100% Green Power energy (where available) in our offices and retail stores.
• 'Reduce, reuse and recycle' policies for our paper usage. All office paper and paper products are recycled where possible and we purchase Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accredited or similarly sustainably sourced paper. Double-sided printing is the default setting on all printers.
• We have implemented a Waste Management System at head office which has dramatically reduced what we send to landfill and maximised what goes off for recycling.
• We're conscious that our brochures consume a lot of paper, so since 2000 we've had an annual tree planting day. In the last year, staff and travellers planted over 1,100 trees and shrubs.
• We have our very own worm farm and bokashi bins that composts all our fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags and coffee grounds.
• We have reviewed our lighting and have successfully 'de-lamped' unnecessary bulbs.
• We have regular presentations for staff on sustainability matters including topics such as waste reduction, sustainable seafood options and ethically sourced paper.
• Intrepidites are a pretty active bunch and many walk or cycle to work. We encourage the use of public transport.

What does it mean to be carbon neutral?

How does Intrepid maintain its carbon neutrality?

What is carbon offsetting?

How do we measure our trip emissions?

• Transport - all intra-trip travel including flights included as part of the trip, taxis, tuk tuks, boats and trains. As direct emissions from transport makes up the vast majority of the emissions when travelling, offsetting this component is vital! 
• Accommodation - all included accommodation from hotels to camping.
• Waste - while we attempt to reduce waste in all ways possible, recycling isn't accessible in all countries we visit. We have therefore considered emissions generated through the average waste generated per person in that particular region. 

How do you calculate the offset cost?

What offset assessment standards do you use?

Why do companies charge different amounts for offsets?

What is climate change?

Why the focus on carbon dioxide and not other greenhouse gases?