Sustainability
1. Earth Changers Sustainability Policy
Earth Changers’ mission is to change the world through tourism.
We’re a marketing platform for positive impact, regenerative tourism.
We feature life-changing places with world-changing people for extraordinary experiences with purpose, to help customers find and book trips that change the world.
We bring together the best in the sector, to engage hearts, educate minds and catalyse change.
We are Purpose-driven, Impact-focused and Values-based.
1.1. Internal Management
We have documented procedures in place to monitor and evaluate the implementation of sustainability.
Our impact reporting includes
- alignment with our financial reporting
- our carbon consumption and decarbonisation plans for the Glasgow Declaration
- our Travelife sustainability reporting
a. Employment
Earth Changers is committed to inclusive, equitable and equal opportunities for all present and potential employees and volunteers, and to treat all with dignity and respect and without discrimination, particularly on the bases of racial/ethnic background, ability/disability, neurodiversity, language, socioeconomic status, citizenship or land of origin, faith/religion/spiritual affiliation, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status or organisation affiliation.
We commit to protecting those with whom we work (volunteers, partners or others) from any form of harassment or “unwanted conduct”, such as bullying, name calling, threats, intrusive or inappropriate questions and comments, exclusion, insults or unwanted physical contact.
Earth Changers employs no child labour. Volunteer traineeships/internships are offered to students, usually 20+.
Earth Changers employs no forced labour. Any employees and volunteers are free to enter or leave their employment through their own choice without penalty, in accordance with their contract.
All employees and volunteers of the company have an employment contract, including labour conditions and a job description.
Internal concerns should be raised with due process of our Concerns and Complaints Policy.
b. Insurance
Earth Changers maintains adequate Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance appropriate to the company and business in respect of its liabilities and staff.
c. Purchasing and Procurement
Earth Changers takes responsibility to make decisions that reduce negative impacts and make positive planetary contributions.
As part of our commitment, we support and promote the importance of tourism to Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 12, sustainable production and consumption:
“A tourism sector that adopts sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices can play a significant role accelerating the global shift towards sustainability”. (UN, Agenda 2030).
Our Responsible Purchasing Policy details our procurement sustainability.
d. Energy
Earth Changers has an active commitment to reducing our (sustainable) energy consumption and related emissions, which are measured, monitored, documented and reported.
e. Water and Waste Water
Earth Changers has an active commitment to reducing our water consumption and related emissions, which are measured, monitored, documented and reported.
Waste water is disposed through the government sewage system, treatment charged by the water company at the same consumption rate as metered water delivered.
f. Waste
The company complies with the national legislation concerning waste disposal. Any residual waste disposal has no adverse effect on the local population and the environment.
Out of preference to waste, we first refuse, reduce, switch to reusable items, repair instead of throwing away and recycle where possible.
- We also encourage our audience (including suppliers) to follow this mandate, eg. with blogs such as plastic free travel.
Waste and recycled waste is collected by our local council weekly refuse services, with the exception of the following which they do not collect:
- Batteries and crisp packets – recycled via supermarket collection point.
- Light bulbs – recycled via a DIY shop.
- White goods – left out for recycle merchants’ pick-up.
- Paper – printed on one side is reused as scrap for notes.
- Local fly tipping is reported to the local council for pick-up.
g. Business Travel
Most meetings are conducted via online technology.
Staff are encouraged to use public transport or sustainable transport (e.g. bicycling, walking, car-pooling).
From the office, for intra-London travel, public transport and walking is really the only option.
Annual conferences abroad are not attended every year, but every other year, or less.
Occasional consultancy work outside London, where logistics and/or costs do not make public transport an option, may mean higher carbon options.
Time and budgets currently limit travel options; in time we will create more self-imposed limits.
All business travel is measured, emissions calculated, documented and reported, with the aim to reduce and mitigate.
1.2. External Partners
Earth Changers promote and work only with positive impact tourism suppliers.
We discern and curate suppliers on the basis on positive impacts. Inclusion is by invitation and merit of being Earth Changers: demonstrable results and reports of true commitment to sustainable development through tourism.
Inclusion of partners is not in the basis of paid advertising, self-application, subscription nor dependent on certification – because some great impact organisations choose not to certify, and certifications do not necessarily mean positive impacts. That said, we highlight our partners’ awards and certifications where they have them.
We look for sustainable development goal impacts locally (see our website ‘Purpose’ section) and beyond, to regenerative tourism solutions.
We closely follow our partners’ developments and ask their support in keeping our content about their product and impacts updated and accurate.
We ask, and curate them for the reason, that they always offer and/or choose the most responsible, sustainable and positive impact options in all operations.
a. Legal
Earth Changers expects partners to:
- Uphold our agreement based on positive impact tourism for sustainable development, including, but not limited to, the sustainability aspects below.
- Uphold all laws relevant in all the jurisdictions in which they operate.
- Take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all business dealings and relationships.
- Inform us if the business ownership/management focus on tourism for sustainable development is to change.
b. Health and Safety
Earth Changers asks partners that:
- Accommodation, transport and activities provided or organised is at the highest achievable standards of fire safety, electricity safety, intruder safety, natural hazard safety and accident safety.
- Any food and drink provided is prepared to the highest achievable health standards.
- Volunteers are never asked to carry out dangerous work and are provided with suitable safety equipment for any manual work.
- Risk assessments are carried out for all operational aspects.
- All appropriate insurance is in place.
- Serious incidents which may threaten our customers’ trips are reported to us.
- next of kin will be contacted and us informed if customers are unable to give medical consent to treatment.
c. Exploitation of Children
Earth Changers and partners agree to take adequate measures to prevent exploitation of children within the direct supply chain (e.g. accommodations and excursions), and to:
- Implement preventative measures to ensure that children are protected from tourism-related sexual exploitation and all potential forms of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) or exploitation, within the direct supply chain.
- Report any suspicious behaviour including during excursions from guests, employees, or staff, to local authorities. We encourage work with ChildSafe, the Code and ECPAT.
- Terminate agreement if adequate measures to prevent sexual exploitation of children are not taken.
d. Labour and Workplace Conditions
Earth Changers expects and asks our partners to:
- Have inclusive and equitable policies to prevent discrimination and exploitation and foster an inclusive place.
- Not employ child labour, and adhere to minimum age provisions of national labour laws and regulations and, where national law is insufficient, consider international standards.
- Not employ staff who could pose a threat.
- Not employ forced labour.
- Comply with all relevant national laws protecting the rights of employees.
- Pay at least living wage, and meet work hours and conditions legal requirements and/or industry standards.
- Recognise freedom of association and the right to collective affiliation.
- Not violate basic human rights: Threat of or physical abuse or punishment, any kind of sexual or other harassment, and other forms of intimidation.
- provide a means through which staff can make representation or raise grievance to management;
e. Community
Earth Changers support the provision and integrity of basic services such as food, water, energy, healthcare and education to neighbouring communities.
f. Animal Welfare
This is detailed in our Animal Welfare Policy.
g. Supply Chain
Earth Changers aims to minimise economic leakage and maximise positive contribution to communities. We advocate for the efficient and fair use of local resources, and support developing local economic networks and relationships between suppliers and local producers, such as the production and distribution of local food products and souvenirs.
We do not support souvenirs which contain threatened flora and fauna species as indicated in the CITES treaty and the IUCN ‘Red List’; any illegally obtained historic/archaeological artefacts; drugs or illegal substances; and abide by local and international laws in place to prevent this.
1.3. Industry
Earth Changers is a Purpose-driven, Impact-focused and Values-based business focused on tourism for sustainable development.
The issues at stake are enormous (communities, cultures, conservation, climate…), and impossible to tackle working in a self-focused vacuum.
As such, Earth Changers proudly collaborate with industry stakeholders and cross-sector initiatives where possible to support the delivery of the sustainable development goals and more. Such partnerships are considered up on a positive impact, cost/benefit, case-by-case basis.
Aside the Places we promote, longer term collaborations are included on our Partners page. In addition, shorter term promotional partnerships may be featured through our marketing channels.
Founder Vicky also often speaks at events, on podcasts and interviews sharing learnings so far from her years in tourism, sustainable development and startup.
1.4. Marketing
Earth Changers values are Adventure, Connection and Integrity.
Through our marketing, we seek to connect our customers and partners with adventurous travel with integrity.
For us, this means honesty, transparency, inclusivity and quality. Marketing sustainability means responsible marketing. We:
- raise awareness of issues with research and references
- address impacts of tourism truthfully
- share inspirational, factual stories
- represent our destinations accurately
- evidence sustainability
- offer solutions for sustainable development; and
- enable guests to experience positive impact tourism in action.
Where responsible marketing (eg. inclusivity, diversity) conflicts with algorithms’ unconscious bias, a sad indictment and contradiction of our times, we commit to do the right thing and be led by our Purpose, Impact and Values.
We will not work with partners or advertising opportunities where our values are undermined.
We will not engage in unethical digital marketing as outlined in Google Webmaster Guidelines spam policies.
We will communicate with integrity and respect, supporting others and our boundaries.
Here you can read our Privacy Policy.
2. Earth Changers Sustainable Purchasing Policy
We choose to take responsibility and make decisions that reduce negative impacts and make positive planetary contributions.
With our suppliers, audience and via marketing channels we support and promote the importance of tourism to Sustainable Development Goal 12, sustainable production and consumption:
“A tourism sector that adopts sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices can play a significant role accelerating the global shift towards sustainability”…to “develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism which creates jobs, promotes local culture and products”. (UN, Agenda 2030).
For all purchasing and operations, steps will be taken to consider sustainability, impacts and implement positive change.
This is in the office, operations and supplier curation in as much as by guests on holidays.
- We promote 6 Rs for more sustainable tourism: #refuse, #reduce, #reuse, #repair, #repurpose, #recycle – for the mindful consumption of disposable and consumable goods.
- We encourage the use of own reusable cups, water bottles, tote bags, lunch boxes and (alternatively disposable wood) cutlery over single use, plastic-based options.
- We measure and report our emissions impact, including digital and paper.
We consider sustainability in all your purchasing decisions and review:
YES | NO | |
Do we really need this product? | Continue to next question | Stop, don’t buy! |
Can it be cost effectively rent/leased/borrowed instead of purchased? | There you go, stop here! | Continue to next question |
Will this product last or is it single-use and/or breakable? | Continue to next question | Stop here, look for alternatives, reassess needs / processes. |
Does it create superfluous waste or harm to the planet? (ie: water, pollution, energy, transport, waste etc.) | Greener is the better! Look for eco-friendly certificates /labels and options. | Great, continue to next question |
Can we purchase from locally owned companies (eg: sustainably certified) and/or social enterprise? | Compare price, quality and availability. | If information not easily available or if unsure, favour local businesses |
Can we combine orders or purchase in refill/bulk to reduce carbon footprint? | Great, ready to place order! | Document research to keep track and monitor for future improvements. |
We give preference to:
- Products & services that have been produced with respect and positive impact for people and the planet (local, social enterprise, organic, fair-trade, recycled).
- Locally owned suppliers that have impact reports, are social enterprise or sustainably certified or have implemented a sustainability policy.
We refuse to purchase in plastic, and reduce packaging and unnecessary paper wherever possible.
We repair to maintain, reuse before purchasing new and try to repurpose objects before recycling, or at last resort, discarding them.
Recommendations for specific products:
- Energy – we purchase from renewable sources.
- Paper – we are largely a digital business. Where needed, we use minimal recycled and environmentally-certified (FSC) paper, eco-font size (e.g. Calibri, 11pt), plus reuse and/or recycle any waste. Avoiding receiving paper marketing collateral is also preferred.
- Printing: we use plant-based ink, print double-sided, black and white-by-default, with printers set to automatically standby to save energy; printer cartridges recycled or refilled where available. We work with printing companies with a certified environmental management system (eg. ISO 14001)
- Digital space – With limited cloud storage, we keep excess electronic file storage and associated emissions at bay through regular storage clean-ups.
- Office supplies – we prefer sustainable options (eg: reclaimed wood, refillable pens, recycled paper, biodegradable waste bags, organic cotton etc.)
- Catering, canteen – we prefer sustainable products (seasonal, locally produced, fair-trade, organic, MSC, dairy-free). We look for minimal packaging and avoid food wastage.
- Giveaways – whether given or received, we prefer to represent the diversity of local cultures from artisans or community-led initiatives.
- Cleaning materials – we use natural products less harmful to our environment and employ eco-friendly cleaning techniques (using less water, refilling products purchased in bulk etc.)
- Light-bulbs – LED lights are preferred, with lower energy use and higher Lumen per watt for efficiency, placed where most required.
Old equipment | Working properly – give away as form of charity, eg. to schools, unprivileged student at universities, community centers etc. | Broken – recycle or properly dispose with licensed partner. |
Buy equipment based on energy ratings | Look for the EU energy labels or Energy Star symbol and choose the most efficient option. For Air-conditioning ensure there is no CFCs being used or other refrigerants (especially R11, R12, R502 and R22) Newer electrical equipment is often more energy efficient than older models | If energy ratings are not available, compare power input (Watt) with the capacity of the equipment (output – which depends on the kind of equipment you use). eg. a computer with a power input of 40 Watt is more efficient than a computer with a power input of 60 Watt |
Ensure quality & price taken into account | Equipment of good quality will last longer – hence environmentally-friendly | Consider equipment of acceptable price range – then its energy efficiency |
3. Earth Changers’ Animal Welfare Policy
Earth Changers is committed to responsible, positive impact, sustainable tourism and protecting animals who are impacted by the travel industry: wildlife attractions account for up to 40% of tourism (World Animal Protection, 2022).
We believe in tourism as a force for good to help keep wildlife wild. As a responsible travel company, we also recognise the links between wildlife exploitation, pandemics like Covid-19 and human health; and a responsible and resilient travel industry, wildlife protection and conservation and world economics.
We have developed this animal welfare policy as animal encounters have become increasingly popular as part of people’s holiday experiences, and we increasingly know the impacts: some animal-related activities, such as elephant washing and rides, photo opportunities with tigers or watching dolphins perform, lead to suffering through cruel treatment and inhumane conditions.
Wildlife exploited predominantly for human entertainment includes activities that
- risk portraying or trivialising wild animals as pets, novelty objects, comedians, or domesticated species;
- encourages animals to perform behaviours that are either unnatural, unnecessary, or harmful;
- involves procedures that may be considered stressful or harmful to all or individual animals; exposes visitors or handlers to unnecessary risks of injury or disease;
- are commerce-driven beyond sustaining maintenance of the animals at facilities striving to phase-out captive wild animal keeping;
Earth Changers believes that all animals should be respected for their intrinsic value and that the best way to experience animals whilst on holiday is by seeing them in the wild.
Founder Vicky trained to be a ranger in South Africa, with top trainers at one of Africa’s leading game reserves (which also housed the Born Free Foundation), then recipient of World Conservation Awards for 10 consecutive years, to better understand its differentiation in conservation standards.
When under human care, both domesticated and non-domesticated (wild) animals, must have ‘a good life’ by enjoying good physical and mental health. The conditions they are provided must favour positive experiences over negative ones within an environment that encourages making choices and enables them to express the widest possible range of natural behaviours.
Earth Changers only works with supplier partners if the animals under their care are provided with the highest possible welfare in line with the Five Domains of Animal Welfare.
The Five Domains is the latest science-based structure for assessing animal welfare as it considers the importance of animals having positive experiences. The model meets and exceed the Five Freedoms model which only defines the basic needs of animals and focuses on the prevention of negative experiences:
- Nutrition – factors that involve the animal’s access to sufficient, balanced, varied and clean food and water.
- Environment – factors that enable comfort through temperature, substrate, space, air, odour, noise and predictability.
- Health – factors that enable good health through absence of disease, injury, impairment and good fitness level.
- Behaviour – factors that provide varied, novel and engaging environmental challenges through sensory inputs, exploration, foraging, bonding, playing, retreating and others.
- Mental State – by presenting positive situations in the previous four functional domains, the mental state of the animal should benefit from predominantly positive states, such as pleasure, comfort or vitality, while reducing negative states such as fear, frustration, hunger, pain or boredom.
Earth Changers recognises that the needs of wild animals in particular can never be fully met in captivity. We also recognise that wild animals previously exploited in tourism would usually not survive being returned to the wild. Therefore, where wild animals are kept in captivity the facility must not only provide them with best possible welfare conditions, it must also contribute towards a shift away from exploitative practices and be supportive of phasing out keeping wild animals for commercial purposes.
Our Guidelines
At Earth Changers, we look that cumulative impacts of tourism do not lead to any adverse effects on the viability and behaviour of populations in the wild. Any disturbance of natural ecosystems is minimised, rehabilitated, and there is a compensatory contribution to conservation management.
We do not sell or promote venues and/or activities that offer tourists any of the following experiences:
- Close interaction with wild animals, such as, touching or riding, including but not limited to elephant riding and bathing, swimming with dolphins or walking with lions;
- Watching wild animal performances, including but not limited to dolphin shows, circuses, orangutan boxing;
- Photo opportunities with wild animals, including, but not limited to big cats, sloths, or primates, tiger selfies, dolphin kissing, or selfies with orangutans;
- Watching animals fight or race, or being used in other sport or cultural events that cause animals to suffer or die, including but not limited to bullfighting and running, crocodile wrestling, dog fighting, rodeo, elephant polo and horse racing;
- Visiting facilities where captive wild animals are bred and kept for commercial products, including but not limited to crocodile farms, civet coffee farms, bear bile farms, turtle farms;
- Engaging in trophy, canned hunting or sport fishing.
When not in conflict with any of the above guidelines Earth Changers may offer and/or promotes the following venues and activities were tourist can experience animals:
- Responsible wildlife watching where a visitor can observe animals in their natural environment from a suitable distance without interrupting their natural behaviours or disturbing their routines. E.g. whale watching experiences certified by the Whale Cetacean Alliance (WCA).
- Genuine animal sanctuaries, rehabilitation facilities and rescue centres that have the highest possible standards of animal care. E.g. sanctuaries certified by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) or elephant venues following World Animal Protection’s Elephant-Friendly venue guidelines.
- Zoos and aquariums that are accredited by members of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and national zoo and aquarium accrediting bodies which do not hold cetaceans in captivity and do not use wild animals for direct contact activities with visitors or have them perform in shows, but whose purpose is genuine conservation.
We are a signatory to World Animal Protection’s Wildlife-Friendly pledge.
If you have any questions about any aspect of our sustainability and policies, feel free to contact us.