Sustainable Travel Practices

We Take Pride in Being a Sustainable Tour Operator

From the moment that we pick up our guests from the airport, we ensure that every trip is carbon positive, beneficial for the environment and for local communities. Here is how we do it:

 

We’re a Certified B-Corp

We recieved our B-Corp credential back in 2017- and we were the very first company in Peru to do so. We’ve maintained our b-corp status through the years, and up until 2022 we were the only b-corp to be found in Cusco.

In fact, worldwide, only around 7000+ companies are b-corp certified- out of a staggering 200,000+ applications. Once certified, businesses need to continue to improve or risk losing their certification. This guarantees that companies who maintain their certification for an extended amount of time (like we have) have continued to improve their sustainability practices over the years.

But What is a B-Corp?

People and Planet before Profit

Being a B Corps (or Benefit Corporation) is a promise to use business for the good of the planet and its people. You can find out more here.

 

1% for the Planet member

We joined 1% for the Planet back in 2007- just like with the B-Corp, we were the very first Peruvian member. In fact, at the time of writing this, we are still the only Peruvian tour operator to hold a membership and we’re one of just three companies across the country to hold a membership.

But What is 1% for the Planet?

To be a member of 1% for the planet, we donate 1% of our turnover each year to environmental efforts. Our contribution goes to reforestation in the Lares area, where we plant the native queuña trees. We do this alongside ECOAN and Green Our Planet to maximise the number of trees we can plant, as well as local communities to help actually plant the trees.

Since 2007, we’ve planted well over a million native trees alongside other participating companies, provided countless jobs and economic stability in remote indigenous communities. We also take extra steps to ensure that the trees have the best possible chance of survival after they have been planted.

We Offset our Carbon Emissions

We know that carbon offsetting isn’t a magical, guilt-free clause that allows you to carry on producing emissions as before. We as a company are well aware that everyone still needs to drastically reduce their emissions- which is something we have been giving a considerable amount of time and effort to for years.

However, emissions are currently an inevitable part of running a business, and so, we work hard to offset the emissions that we do produce. To do this we consider both the operation of your trip and the results of existing as a company- in short, the carbon it takes to have an office full of computers as well as the carbon from an airport transfer.

How Do We Offset Our Carbon Emissions?

We work with a Peruvian-based company called Regenera, and the carbon is offset locally, to help preserve local ecosystems. Currently, our carbon is offset in the Manu National Park, the most biodiverse place on earth.

Manu, along with much of the rainforest, is an area that drastically needs more protection from illegal logging and gold mining. Regenera works with the local communities to encourage them to act as stewards of the forest and our contribution goes to help preserve this part of the forest which acts as a carbon sink.

 

Travelers Against Plastic Member

Spend half an hour in Peru and you will see the huge amount of waste produced by disposable bottles of water. Recycling has its place but it is not the answer. What is needed is to reduce the amount of plastic produced in the first place.

We have pledged to work to reduce the number of plastic water bottles being used by travelers. We always provide large containers of purified water from which you can refill your non-disposable water bottle. We also promote the use of UV filters, and water bottles with inbuilt filters.

On top of this, we aim to work with hotels that make drinking water freely available, rather than selling plastic disposable bottles. This is quite a hard task as hotels and restaurants make a lot of money from selling throw-away bottles of water, but as sustainability becomes more of a focus in the tourism industry, attitudes are shifting.

You can find out more about Travelers Against Plastic here.

Members of The Long Run

The Long Run is a sustainable travel movement helping businesses, nature and people to work together for a better future. It helps businesses to identify real and actionable things that they can do in order to improve their sustainability practices. The idea is that it is unrealistic to suggest everything can be changed at once, but doing everything one step at a time is actionable and realistic.

The Long Run has identified four areas for sustainability focus: Conservation, Commerce, Community, and Culture. It has an extensive programme that encourages members to improve on each area, while identifying which areas are perhaps weaker and which are stronger.

Porter Protection Policy

Previously, all Peruvian porters were freelance, moving around companies in turn for favorable pay and improved working conditions. It was a mark of pride for us that most of our porters had chosen to work with us for over ten years. (This rule has recently changed, and our porters are now fully and legally employed.)

This loyalty came because we offered fair pay- something that many porters do not get, we abided by the weight limits set by the Inca Trail, and we provide the opportunity of career progression. Some of our guides started as porters, Ernesto our storeman, David our driver, and Alex, previously the office cook (who has now moved on to greener pastures), were all once porters who worked their way up.

Beyond the opportunity of progression, below are listed some of the ways we offer our porters fair working conditions:

  We pay porters more than the wage stipulated by the authorities. We pay them directly into their bank accounts.

   We pay the porter’s Inca Trail fee and do not take it out of their wages.

 Inca trail rules set a maximum load for porters – 20kg of company equipment and 5kg of personal equipment. We abide by this and it is enforced by the Inca trail governing body at several weigh stations on the trail.

   We provide a large communal tent with a carrying mat floor for porters to sleep in. It is not the clients’ dining tent.

   We provide our porters with plenty of good food. This is not the same menu given to the passengers, but it is nutritious, abundant, and what they are used to eating. They have their own cooking facilities so do not have to wait for the clients to finish eating before they get their food.

   We provide the porter’s transport from Ollantaytambo to the trailhead. We also provide them with return train tickets (with designated seat allocation) from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo. We do not deduct this from their wages.

   We only use registered Inca trail porters (as Inca trail rules stipulate) – these have to pass several forms of ID, character reference, and a letter of good health and to have attended an Inca Trail Porter Awareness course.

We provide accident insurance and work contracts for each period of work porters do for us. We also contribute to their pensions and provide health insurance for them and their families.

We provide each porter with a uniform, back support, a carrying frame, and footwear. (Please note the porters often prefer their sandals.)

As good quality camping equipment is unavailable or extremely expensive in Peru, we encourage clients to donate any excess outdoor clothes, sleeping bags, etc directly to the porters.

Tipping porters are also encouraged and guidelines are provided at the pre-departure meeting. The tip is administered by the clients with assistance from the head guide whose tip is completely separate.

Amazonas Explorer holds an annual, end-of-season, porters’ party and football tournament.

Our tree planting is done above our porters’ villages. The porters are proud to participate in caring for their future.

 

Other Commitments we have to Sustainability

We run small groups tours and specialize in new routes away from the busiest areas

We purchase locally produced food

We bring 20 liter bottles of water for you to refill from, to avoid you buying plastic bottles

We use reusable snack bags

We minimize paper use and where we do print, we then use the other side.

We carefully dispose of all waste. All non-biological waste is carried out and disposed of correctly. On the Apurimac rafting, all human excrement is also carried out. On other trips, we carefully bury all biodegradable waste below the high-water mark, at the official deposits on the Inca Trail or as deep as possible elsewhere.

We employ only qualified local guides

We cook on gas not firewood

We pay all staff a realistic wage and offer correct working conditions.

We discourage handing out gifts along the trail to locals to avoid creating a handout culture.

What We’re Working On…

We are always working to improve the ways that we are good to our planet, and our current project is gaining the Preferred By Nature certification. We have spent the past year working towards this, as Preferred by Nature is a non-profit organisation working to support better land management and business practices that benefit people, nature and climate in 100+ countries.

Check out our climate emergency plan for more information.