Costa Rica raft and trek adventure

Planet

It is paramount that guests are encouraged to use and buy local products.

Internally our partners encourage reusing, recycling and generally doing their best to reduce the overall impact our operation has on the environment. Our colleagues participate in the Certification in Sustainable Tourism (CST) program which rates businesses on the degree to which they comply with a sustainable model of natural, cultural and social resource management.

Advising travellers to reduce impact: In every welcome packet that we give to our clients, we put out brochures with environmental information.

Office practice
Our Environmental Policies are to turn off the computer when not using in long periods, also the monitor is programmed to turn off after 15 minutes of inactive movement and after 60 minutes is programmed to the mode Stand by, our wallpaper is black for saving energy, the last one to leave the office has to check that everything is turned off.

For our tours, our guides after every journey bring a bag with all the recycling to the nearest hotel that has a recycling plan and recycling disposals. In our facility we recycle materials and reuse some of them too. We print on both sides of the paper. Every recycled material is given to the Municipalidad de Corredores de San José. The toners of ink we use are given to Grupo Ecológico.

In our facility we use fluorescent light bulbs, we maximize energy by opening doors and windows, our walls are painted with light colors. We don’t use air conditioning or fans. We have the policy to turn off the tap when we’re soaping. For the toilets we implement a plastic bottle filled with sand in the toilet tank so it doesn’t use so much water.

People

We work with our local tour agents and we focus on delivering unique services while supporting sustainable practices. This includes providing the client with opportunities to interact with local communities whenever possible. Family run restaurants and businesses are included in client itineraries and our guests are encouraged to use and buy local products.

Our local partners actively support a variety of philanthropic projects including supporting local schools, running its own reforestation project, encouraging and financing small local business ventures as well as other well known programmes run by local foundations. They also have the Rainforest Alliance Verified Seal.

We employ local guides from National Parks. Our guides purchase clients groceries from local markets. We use accommodations that are also certificated with the Certification for Sustainable Tourism so we guarantee they have same standards and policies.

Our local partners charity donations are mostly made to the local community of Orotina. The last donation was to the community of La Trinidad, we donated Christmas gifts and products for the party. We also include on our itineraries visit to local schools, orphanages and we donated school materials, food, cribs, etc. Also we do social work involving our staff, on December 2009 we organized a Christmas Party for poor children of the community of Galan & Lanas.