Alternatif Outdoor

Aims

• To make a positive contribution, through our operations, to the social and physical environment in which we operate
• To reduce the negative impacts of our operations on the social and physical and environment in which we operate
• To demonstrate to our staff, our guests and our suppliers our commitment to social and environmental best practice
• To create the best travel experience possible for our guests

Economic responsibility

• We use local suppliers of transport, food and accommodation
• The accommodation facilities that we use are family-owned, independent operations, not part of a chain.
• We employ local guides as much as possible
• We are actively involved in training local people as guides: the owner is a rafting instructor for the Turkish Rafting Federation

Environmental responsibility
We are keenly aware that the key factor in our operations is the superb quality of the natural environment in the parts of Turkey in which we operate. As such we are strongly committed to minimizing the impact of our operations on the natural environment, and to promoting awareness of the value of this environment and efforts to protect it. The measures that we take include the following:

• Group transport is used for our tours as much as possible
• We ensure that all waste is properly disposed of at our bases and during our tours
• On our camping expeditions, we make sure that we leave camp sites as clean as we found them, or cleaner. We do this by explaining our environmental approach to our guests, encouraging them to minimize use of plastic bottles, to separate recyclable waste and to leave no trace at each campsite we use. We make an effort to minimize the amount of packaging used for our supplies.
• Use of energy and water is minimized on our camping expeditions as we usually camp ‘in the wild’.
• Virtually all our correspondence and promotion is carried out via the internet and email, minimizing the amount of paper used for our activities
• A recycling scheme for paper and other recyclable materials is in operation in our office and main base
• Through membership of the Society for the Protection of Nature, the Nature Society and the Mediterranean Seal Research Group, the management actively supports Turkish environmental organizations involved in environmental protection and awareness-raising activities.
• We provide all participants on our multi-day trips with written information about the wildlife and natural environment of the area they are visiting, with references to relevant websites and organizations, enabling them to research further if they wish.
• Our guides discuss with guests the environmental challenges faced in our region, in particular water supply, energy supply and waste disposal, the solutions available, and ways in which individuals can contribute to these solutions, for example by minimizing use of water and energy, and by recycling where possible.
• In general the accommodations that we use have solar-powered systems for heating hot water. Wherever possible we use accommodations that demonstrate a commitment to good environmental practices such as recycling and conservation of water and energy, and we ensure that all accommodations we use are aware of the high priority that we give to good environmental practice.

Social responsibility
Alternatif Outdoor is a locally owned family business, and the management is resident in the area all year round, so we are fully aware the importance of making a positive contribution to the local community. We are able to make such a positive contribution in the following ways:

• Wherever possible we allocate at least one Turkish-speaking guide to each trip, to assist interaction between guests and local people
• The tour information that we send out to prospective guests includes advice on cultural sensitivity in respect of dress and behaviour.
• On all our trips, as far as possible we use local produce and provide local-style meals, and we encourage our guests to try local dishes and delicacies.
• We are actively involved in efforts to maintain standards in outdoor sports in our region: the owner is a member of the local Water Sports Committee set up by the district governor to regulate water-based sports activities in the Köycegiz area (where we operate sea kayaking trips and rafting trips on the Dalaman River)