By Alex Narracott

UK charity The Converging World (TCW) and ethical travel resource Much Better Adventures have partnered to deliver an alternative way to reduce the carbon footprint of travel, without resorting to carbon offsetting. The effectiveness of carbon offsetting is widely debated, but donating to TCW brings carbon savings and social benefits above and beyond the traditional offsetting schemes available.

What does it mean for a tour operator to be “carbon-neutral”? Can a company really be carbon-neutral, or even carbon-positive? Climate change is undoubtedly among the most important challenges facing our world today, and the tourism industry is a major contributor of carbon emissions. What can be done to address this challenge in a practical way? Here are just a few examples of TIES members who incorporate carbon management policies, carbon offset options, and climate-friendly practices into their tour operations, as well as their outreach and education efforts.

In 2009, Intrepid Travel became the first adventure tour operator to announce that we would carbon offset all of the trips that we operate across the globe. This accounts for 80% of our entire trip portfolio (we sell some trips operated by partner tour companies)! As a result, all of our trips operating in 2010 have the cost of carbon offsetting included in the trip cost. This move not only cemented Intrepid’s position as a leader in tackling climate change, but it marked a significant milestone in our journey to become a carbon neutral company.

In 2009 Wayne Sentman initiated a novel CO2 offset program for the San Francisco based non-profit marine conservation organization, Oceanic Society. Wayne worked to form a partnership between Oceanic Society, a Boston Public School (Warren Prescott School), and a Harvard University, graduate student founded education non-profit, Quen.ch.

Ruby Falls (Chattanooga, Tennessee), America’s deepest commercial cave and most-visited underground waterfall, receives over 400,000 visitors annually. This 80-year-old natural attraction with a 1928 Irish style castle, listed in the National Register for Historic Places, has in recent years been transformed into a more sustainable business operation with progressive energy-saving strategies, waste reduction efforts, and sustainable land use initiatives – and a Green Globe International seal to testify to the successful implementation of these sustainability efforts.

“Without tourism, the Pantanal (in South America), the world’s largest wetland, would have just turned into a major cattle feed-lot for McDonald’s” – Costas Christ, at the International Symposium on Sustainable Tourism Development. Highlighting the roles of tourism in supporting and promoting conservation, this article discusses the social, economic and environmental sustainability of travel and tourism, noting that “the very essence of tourism is selling culture and nature, and those must be protected or there will be no industry.”

TIES encourages you to reduce your carbon emissions by minimizing energy use, utilizing alternative transportation, and choosing low-impact activities. There will always be unavoidable carbon footprint of your travel. Contribute to a credible carbon offsetting program to support conservation, renewable energy, and other energy saving projects. For those travelling to and within the UK, here are some useful information on measuring the carbon footprint of your travel, and how to travel consciously as you select air travel, local transportation and lodging options.