Eco Tours
At Central Coast Outdoors we have become concerned about the rapid
escalation of environmental crises across the globe and have decided
to do our part to help address these problems. Although taking one
of our eco tours is a great way to reconnect with nature, we have
been increasingly aware of what the environmental impact of running
our ecotours truly is. From carbon emissions on our vehicles to the
plastics used in kayak construction, we realize that even such a
seemingly green business as running eco adventure tours has an
impact on the environment.
To address this issue we analyzed our entire business operation to see
where we were impacting the environment and came up with a series of
changes and programs to make our business as green as possible. Our
goal was to lower our company emissions and impacts as much as we
could and do carbon offsets and other mitigation measures to address
the impacts that remained. Here is what we have done:
To lower energy use and carbon emissions:
- Purchased a 2008 Toyota Prius for running smaller trips that need
vehicle support and transportation. The Prius gets 40-50 mpg and the
van we were using for all our trips gets about 12 mpg. We estimate
this will reduce our annual fuel consumption and carbon emissions by
over 50%.
- Purchased an Energy Star refrigerator for storing food in our
warehouse. This new refrigerator uses about 75% less electricity
than the old refrigerator. You'd be surprised at how much energy an
old refrigerator can consume!
- Installed solar electric panels on our home/office. Combined with
the more energy efficient refrigerator, we estimate this will offset
about 70-75% of our electrical use.
- Purchase as much of the food we serve on trips from local farmers
markets. Not only does this reduce the energy needed to move food to
market, but food purchased close to the source tastes better!
To mitigate what remains of our impact:
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Joined One Percent For
The Planet.
Through this organization
member companies like Central Coast Outdoors pledge to donate at
least one percent of gross annual revenue to a select list of
environmental causes. We feel that donating a percentage of gross
sales is more honest than a percent of profits. Profits can vary
considerably and total sales are a better indicator of overall
impact.
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Purchased carbon offsets through Native Energy, a non-profit dedicated
to offsetting carbon emissions through wind farms and cattle methane
projects. With the help of Native Energy, we have offset 13 tons of
carbon emissions annually through the construction of electricity
producing wind farms.
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If you are concerned about the environmental impact your eco
holiday here on the Central Coast of California might have, you can
do several things:
- Take one of our eco adventure tours! Not only will you get a
chance to reconnect with nature and get some exercise, you can rest
assured we have done everything possible to reduce or mitigate the
impact of our eco tours.
- Visit the Native Energy
website and purchase carbon offsets for your adventure holiday or
for your entire annual household impact.
