Carbon Neutral Tours.

Reducing your Carbon Footprint.

EcoSports Tours Top Tips for Low Impact Travel

1. Try to avoid flying whenever possible.

2. Stay in accommodation with an eco-label (or that has sustainable initiatives and use solar/renewable energy.

3. Eat at hotels/restaurants that serve local produce (or even better places that grow their own produce)

4. Adopting a plant-based diet – animals (especially cows are know to produce high level of methane and greenhouse gases, and are often transported far – ‘so lets try to go easy on the red meat’)

How EcoSports Tours will Reduce Your Carbon Footprint for Youth Sports Travel

Carbon neutral group sports travel might sound nice, buy until the launch of EcoSports Tours the idea seems to have been considered far-fetched, not been taken seriously and has somewhat got lost in limbo.

Making schools and sports teams travel more environmentally sustainable is something that everyone should support.

“Despite it’s appeal, making sports travel more green is far from easy or in reality something travel operators have not focused on or have ‘kicked the can down the road’ in implementing”. Tom Shorey - Founder of EcoSports Tours

EcoSports Tours have partnered with Carbon Footprint Limited, a leading carbon & sustainability management organisation. They work tirelessly on the part of consumers to shape the agenda for environmental and carbon management for businesses.

• Founding members of the Quality Assurance Standard (QAS) for carbon offsetting

• Run the Carbon Academy (for peer group learning) & are frequently asked to publish papers

• Chair the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) in our region

• Provide input and advice to governments on Low Carbon legislation

Flights & Bus Travel.

Compare Transport Carbon Emissions

When it comes to carbon emissions flying is easily the worst culprit. In fact, flying is responsible for 40% of carbon emissions generated by the global tourism sector (source UNWTO). However, flying is often the fastest and ‘easiest’ means to get to many of our favourite sporting destinations. So what are the are the options?

Firstly, there are many ways to travel that do not have to involve flying. In fact, not only is taking the train more carbon efficient and environmentally friendly, but in many cases taking the train between cities in Northern Europe in particular can be just as quick as well as more interesting and relaxing.

Beyond taking the train, EcoSports Tours advocate taking ferries and buses (preferably new electric executive coaches coming on stream) which are environmentally friendly. transport.

Carbon Offsetting for Flights  - A Breath of Fresh Air

All the above said, sometimes it may not be possible to use other modes of transport and you will need to fly.

EcoSports Tours recommend offsetting a travelling groups carbon emissions, if you have to fly to your chosen destination.

Accommodation & Food.

Sustainable Accommodation

Despite transport being the biggest cause of carbon emissions within the  travel industry (transport collectively accounts for 75%), accommodation makes up 20% of carbon emissions. Therefore, the accommodation that we choose (as well as not to select) for your sports groups to stay ‘makes a measurable difference’.

Thankfully there is now a lot more choice when it comes to eco friendly and sustainable places to stay. For instance, older buildings are less efficient, and therefore old hotels have a higher footprint.

For our initial selection criteria for accommodation use a specialist website which shows the carbon footprint of every hotel. We also use other websites along with individual inspection visits wherever possible that confirm the strong eco credentials of each selected accommodation.

We understand that its hard for groups to define what hotels are the most sustainable option. That is why EcoSports Tours work in collaboration with the most eligible ecolabels. These labels are provided by organisations that identify products or services that comply with sustainable standards as a quality mark that are less environmentally harmful.

www.bookdifferent.com/en/eco-certified-hotels

Local Food

An important sustainable practice in the accommodation sector is the sourcing and serving of local food. Sourcing food from outside the region is often tied with a high carbon footprint and food waste whereas local food could reduce these issues.