We are committed to trying to reduce, re-use and recycle as much waste as is possible, wherever we are in the world. We review and update our responsible travel policies on a regular basis because we know there’s always more we could be doing – but this policy forms the basis of the minimum standards we aim to achieve both in our office and out on the road.
Waste Minimisation: reduce, reuse, recycle
Office and Workshop:
- All paper products we use in the office are recycled, from paper to envelopes.
- We print on both sides of the paper whenever it is appropriate.
- We try to reduce what we print by using email and online media for internal and external communication wherever possible.
- We recycle as much as we can, from paper to plastics, glass, cardboard, oils and metal.
- We also use recycling schemes for our workshop, e.g. oil, batteries, metal.
- We calculate our brochure production carefully to avoid excessive print runs, and encourage using our online brochure.
- Out of date brochures are recycled at a dedicated paper plant.
On the Road:
- We communicate with our crew online – reducing postage and printing.
- We recycle wherever possible, often supporting informal projects with local people collecting materials for recycling.
- We bury our bio-degradable waste or give it to local people as feed for livestock.
- Our crew encourage travellers to minimise plastic drinks bottle consumption.
- All trucks provide re-useable shopping bags to use in place of plastic bags.
- Vehicles are generally serviced in established workshops, where the local people have a responsible attitude to the disposal of waste products.
- Products such as oils and tyres are often reused several times after we have finished with them as we pass them on to local people.
Energy efficiency and resource consumption
Office and Workshop:
- Where possible we turn off our lights, computers, printers and other electrical equipment, particularly at night.
- We minimise our energy consumption in whatever way we can, e.g. using slimline energy efficient light bulbs and minimising water usage.
On the Road:
- When cooking whilst camping, we generally use gas instead of wood. It’s a cleaner fuel and this way we don’t deplete valuable local natural resources.
- We do sometimes indulge in a campfire, but only where resources are plentiful and we would not be in competition with local people for supplies.
- All our trucks conform to UK emission controls when they leave the UK.
- Each truck is regularly serviced and maintained to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible.
- Passengers and crew are encouraged to use rechargeable batteries for items such as cameras, personal music systems, etc. These can be charged from mains supplies or on our trucks as we travel.
- Waste water is disposed of away from fresh water sources.
