This Sunday, April 22, is the 48th anniversary of the first Earth Day and the theme for this year is ending plastic pollution.
How Enigma Peru Promotes Sustainable Travel
At Enigma Peru we take pride in promoting sustainable travel and operating in an environmentally respectful way. Whenever tours operate in naturally protected areas, we take full precautions to make sure our equipment, campsites, operations, and tours don’t affect the biodiversity of the area. Below we have listed more specific ways that we tackle sustainability on a daily level:
Our office in Cusco is a green office with a focus on the reduce, reuse, recycle theory. We limit the amount of paper that we print out and work mostly with electronic documents to reduce paper waste. We also send information to our clients electronically, drastically reducing the printing of brochures, posters and other paper advertising.
We also have a strong focus on using biodegradable products both in our office and in our operations to reduce our impact on the environment. We have greatly reduced our use of disposable plastics, substituting aluminum, cane, wood, and/or textiles instead.
Enigma regularly participates and hosts cleaning campaigns in Peru, especially along the Inca Trail, removing hundreds of kilos of inorganic waste. On our last campaign, we removed 700kg of waste over a course of three days with thirty volunteers.
We also ask our guests to follow our environmental and social code of conduct. Some of things we ask are:
- Disposal of inorganic and organic waste into the proper receptacles and never left on the ground or in any Natural Protected Area.
- Protecting the local water systems while camping by using biodegradable soaps and shampoos.
- Preservation of flora by not picking plants or flowers.
Ways to Be a Sustainable Traveler on All Trips
It’s a bit harder to think about how to reduce your carbon footprint on your own when traveling, but we’ve compiled a short and simple list to follow to make sure that you are being the best sustainable traveler you can be.
- Bring a small tote bag with you to carry items or use to go shopping while on your trip. The tote bag will come in handy for other times you need to carry while you’re away and will greatly reduce waste from plastic bags.
- If you are traveling relatively short distances, opt to take a bus, a train, or rent a car rather than flying. Not only do you get to enjoy more of the local scenery, but you will reduce your carbon footprint by more than 20%.
- Say no to plastic and paper. If someone on your travels offers you brochures, maps, tourist info, or plastic bags, politely decline or ask to take a picture of the information with your phone or camera. It’s much less likely that you will lose the information if it is stored on your phone or camera and you won’t have to worry about how to dispose of the waste in the appropriate manner.
- Pick up a few pieces of garbage and dispose of it properly. If you see any garbage/recyclables in the local environment, especially protected areas and parks, picking up a few pieces is sure to make the locals and the wildlife are safer and happier.
By taking part in one or all of these ways, you can help make the world pollution-free while still having a wonderful trip. For more tips on how to travel responsibly in Peru, click here.
