Travel companies celebrate Earth Day with great new initiatives

Young woman hiking in the Zhangjiajie National Forest park, makes a heart shape finger frame. Love nature wanderlust sharing concept.

As you may know, yesterday was Earth Day, which is, of course, the day many of us Earthlings like to band together and advocate for environmental protection.

To celebrate, multiple travel companies have been coming up with some great initiatives to help promote the cause of sustainable tourism.

We love all these fantastic ideas so we’ve decided to compile them for you here so you too can cheer them on with us and help them champion the cause.

See also: Virtuoso MD: Sustainability should be cultural

Intrepid launches one-off cycling trip to combat plastic on World Earth Day

Can you imagine taking a 27-day cycling trip where you quit plastics: no single-use plastic bags, no bottles, no straws, no containers?

This is the mission of the latest responsible travel initiative from Intrepid Travel to coincide with World Earth Day.

The first-ever cycling tour, to go ahead in July, will take travellers through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and will see Intrepid Travel partner with grassroots organisations to combat the scourge of plastic waste.

Sustainability advocates Paul Hellier, founder of Fair Food Forager, and Jamie Lepre, a comedian and filmmaker, will join the journey, filming a documentary en route. Musician Ash Grunwald has also confirmed he will join the cycle.

For more information, go here.

Travel Corporation and Treadright foundation celebrate wildlife initiative

The TreadRight Foundation, created as a joint initiative between The Travel Corporation’s (TTC) family of brands, recognises World Earth Day 2018 by celebrating the TreadRight Wildlife Initiative. All bookings made today across all TTC brands, will see TreadRight donate US$1 per booking towards this initiative.

Destinations across the planet are often defined by their iconic wildlife and many local populations are dependent on a robust ecosystem to make a living.

However, wildlife crimes like poaching and animal exploitation threaten to harm these innocent creatures and even wipe entire species off the face of the planet.

Earth Day 2018 provides TTC and TreadRight with the opportunity to celebrate the incredible work of those leading the charge to defend animals in vulnerable situations, such as big cats, elephants, and rhinos.

As TreadRight celebrates Earth Day 2018, those travelling with the TTC family of brands can also rest assured they are helping to make a positive difference for our planet.

Travelling with TTC’s family of brands this Earth Day will help to fund The TreadRight Foundation’s big cat conservation project, delivered in partnership with their Wildlife Initiative partners at the Wildlife Conservation Society.

For more information, go here.

Contiki Recognises 7 young people changing the world this Earth Day through its six-two 35 under 35 changemakers of 2018 initiative

This month, to celebrate Earth Month, youth holiday leaders Contiki, have released a brand new initiative that celebrates and recognises individuals dedicating themselves to making a difference.

The six-two 35 under 35 changemakers of 2018 initiative is designed to showcase the inspiring young people who are driving change, inspiring, creating and ultimately leading in fields that have an impact on both the health of the planet and on us as individuals.

So this month, why not get inspired by the power of young people? These 7 individuals are a good place to start…

Chloë Stewart

Chloë Stewart from London is a foodie who is all about reducing food waste. Instead of binning our surplus waste, Chloë has found an ingenious way to turn it into delicious, healthy snacks. Her inspiration came from the juice craze which has taken over the world, resulting in major amounts of juice pulp being wasted in the process. So, Chloe decided to turn the pulp into crackers, breads, granolas and deserts, in the form of nibsetc. The no waste recipes are all about changing out attitudes towards what waste actually is whilst creating tasty treats in the process. She shares many of her recipes on her blog to encourage people to make the most of their juice pulp at home, whilst her Instagram page provides a salivating stalk.

Camilo Jimenez

Making waves in Latin American recycling, Camilo Jimenez decided to give an incentive to help people recycle. ECOPUNTOS is a company he created to gamify recycling, allowing people to earn points which can be used towards prizes in exchange for recycled material. ECOPUNTOS started in Camilo’s local Bogota, Colombia, and is now in more than 7 countries across Latin America, with 1.2 million registered users. With a mere 18% of daily waste being recycled in Latin America, this is an awesome way to turn a chore into a fun-filled incentive.

Sonya and Nina Montenegro

High street shops inundate us with fast fashion and irresistible deals, creating a throwaway clothing culture the Montenegro sisters from Portland, Oregon, are trying to abolish with The Far Woods initiative. Using art as a powerful tool for change making, the sisters repurpose materials and textiles to create hand-made items and pieces of art. Their Instagram page @thefarwoods, is a great space to be educated and inspired on all the wonderful ways our clothing can be reused.

Erica Wang

1.2 billion people live in areas of water scarcity, but 18-year-old Erica Wang (together with 19-year-old Michael Miller) is determined to eradicate this. The Executive Director and Co-Founder of Walk4CleanWater has worked tirelessly, planning water walks around the world to inspire and activate young people to get involved. Erica has raised over $45,000 to date; money that has been used to build new water wells in developing communities that will reduce illness and provide countless opportunities for children and families.

Melanie Murphy

Melanie went viral back in 2014 when she posted a video about her ache which received a colossal 18 million views from all around the world. She soon became a powerful YouTube force, inspiring and educating the masses by sharing everything from her sexuality to lifestyle choices, and journey she has been on struggling with various eating disorders. Not stopping there, Melanie is spreading the love even further having just published a biography titled ‘Fully Functioning Human (Almost): Living in an Online/Offline World’, hitting just about every nail there is to hit when it comes to being a young woman in the 21st century. @melaniiemurphy is a must feel good follow.

Zander Srodes

Leaving and breathing the ocean every day, Zander Srodes has become a social entrepreneur and environmentalist with a passion for saving sea turtles. Being hunted for meat and eggs and having their homes destroyed by pollution means sea turtles are slowly disappearing from our oceans, and in need of protection. In a bid to educate people on the effects pollution is having on marine life, Zander created an activity book called ‘Turtle Talk’, which went on to be reproduced 250,000 times. Giving them away to schools and communities for free, ‘Turtle Talk’ has reached children and adults all over the world.

Autumn Peltier

Just when you thought these young entrepreneurs couldn’t get any more talented, Autumn Peltier steals the show. At just 13 years old, this Canadian native is the young girl telling the UN General Assembly to ‘warrior up’. The young indigenous activist is not afraid to put Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in line, using her voice and natural talent for public speaking to fight for water protection and access to clean water for all. This incredible young lady is living proof you’re never too young to stand up for what you believe in.

Latest News