Our Environmental & Social Policy

It is important to us that when we travel to different parts of our amazing planet that our exchange is always a mutual one. It is our responsibility to take time to think about how our actions can benefit or how they impact the people, communities, economies, environments and eco-systems we visit. We always consider how we can make a difference (or sometimes more appropriately – NOT make a difference).

You will never hear us say we are carbon neutral. You will never hear us say that we have "Ecomark" nor any other invented qualification. You CAN trust us to have small business values and to be open and honest with you and to carefully consider the way we operate every part of our business. If you have suggestions about how we can do better please let us know!

Everything we do has it's pros and cons and Tourism is no exception. Escape Adventures' goal is to be fully honest with ourselves and with you about any possible negative impacts of travel or our cycle tours. We take full responsibility to research any possible negative impacts of our tours and have lots of discussion and brain storming about how we can eliminate negatives, or better still turn the negatives into positives! Our mission is to fill our tours with as many positive outcomes as possible!

Please read below about how we, Escape Adventures, endeavor to do this… and the following ways in which you can help us to make a difference in the countries we travel in and maybe in your homes as well… (Please note: Our Environmental / Social Policy is a open document. Please feel free to comment or make any suggestions as to how we may be able to improve.)

Escape Adventures is 100% against Sex Tourism, Human and Animal Trafficking, Predator Trophy Hunting, Zoos

Planting trees together in the Usambara Mountains and making new friends

This lovely nursery contains the mangrove babies that we have been planting in the Gulf of Thailand Cambodia

Visiting the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi is a life changing experience. We learn about the epic effort made to help the elephants thrive AND it is a whole lot of fun

Their is always time to stop and get our hands dirty and help out a bit

We have partnered with Mkuzi School in Tanzania and every year we plant 100s of new trees in a around the school

Escape Adventures bikers visit the different generations of mangrove planting in Cambodia

Huge rolls of dried bananas are one of the many Cambodian village industries... They make great riding snacks and they are delicious

On our Tour Aotearoa cycle tour we take a side trip to Okarito home of the white heron

Local village markets are the best place to find what is grown locally And a great opportunity to meet the local people Spices and dried fruit in Kyrgyzstan

Silk is a huge industry in Cambodia. At a silk farm we learn all about how it is made

Visiting National Forest Parks helps support conservation of the local wildlife

We have been planting trees with Mkuzi School in the Usambara Mountains since 2013

Supporting local business in this personalised market in Kenya

The trees that we plant in the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania are grown in the Friends of the Usambara s Nursery

Why not foster an orphaned baby elephant African elephants are under threat from loss of habitat and poaching The Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi does an amazing job of rescuing and raising orphaned babies.

These babies are mangroves all ready to leave the nursery and be planted in the Mangrove Regeneration Program in Cambodia

Planting trees with the kids from Mkuzi School in Tanzania mean that the kids are learning the value of planting trees for future generations

Our school visits in Tanzania are a highlight of our Kenya Tanzania cycle tours

Freshly baked bread straight out of the oven is pretty hard to beat in Kyrgyzstan

Fresh in season local produce is one of the best ways to stay nourished and hydrated on tour. Mandy having a great time shopping in the Siem Reap markets

Home stays rock They benefit the people directlly and give us fabulous genuine connections In Fiji we have the pleasure of sleeping over with our friends in their village

When I grow up I want the mangroves to look like this

In Tanzania we work with Mkuzi School and the Friends of Usambara to plant trees in the Usambara Mountains

Heres to rolling up our sleeves planting trees or mangroves together

The beautiful Rainbow Reef in Fiji is a Protected Marine Reserve

We get down and dirty supporting a local mangrove regeneration project near Kampot in Cambodia

We are always on the look out for the freshest local in season produce. In Kyrgyzstan the watermelons are to die for

On every one of our Cambodian cycle tours we plant 10 mangroves for every biker and every crew member on our tours.

Have you ever wondered how rice paper wraps are made Village Industries in Cambodia make them by hand one at a time

In Colombia we learn about how the coffee bean is grown processed distributed and arrives to us in a delicious cup

Mopping up CO2 cleaning the oceans and providing a habitat for the fish... one mangrove at a time

Our school visits are a opportunity for a mutual learning experience

Fresh and in season avocados are a favourite meal and snack on our Madagascar cycle tours

Helping to replant the mangroves in coastal Cambodia sure feels good

Escape Adventures bikers check out silk products made here in Cambodia

On our Fijian village stay we wake up to a breakfast for a Fijian chief And its all made right here in the village

Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is a hugely successful trust who rescue orphaned elephants and rehabituate them back into protected areas

We love diversity!

Our Escape Adventures crew and bikers come from a huge variety of backgrounds. We celebrate this diversity and welcome all cyclists regardless of their education, culture, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, colouring, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs. We believe that the more diverse our groups are the more interesting and fun your tour will be! So please come and join us!

The environment is our home, the home of billions of animal and plants species and the home of future generations – it is a delicate and highly threatened foundation. Today it is essential that we change our habits at home and in the way that we live and travel and adopt a more caring attitude towards the environment.

There is no denying that the tourism industry is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions. A 2018 study found that tourism accounts for around 8% of the world’s carbon emissions, and nearly half of that comes from transport (flying, driving, buses, taxi’s, ferries etc).

The flip side of this is that travel and tourism (prior to Covid 19) accounted for one in four of all new jobs created around the world and over 10% of all jobs worldwide. Reference: WTTC. So the big question is: How can we reduce the negative environmental impact of our travel and do something to help mitigate or even better, turn those negatives into positives?

Firstly, we can significantly reduce our carbon emissions by:

For shorter distances - travel by bus or train (or ride a bike!) rather than fly or drive.
Fly Less. When you do travel by air - consider combining multiple shorter journeys into one longer trip.
Book flights with fewer stop-overs. This not only reduces the flying distance but also planes release the most carbon during take-off and landing.
Fly economy: more people in a plane means less carbon emissions per person.
Pack light: Less luggage weight = less carbon emissions.
Slow down and stay longer: The less you rush around and try to cram in the less emissions you’ll produce, plus you’ll go home more relaxed.
When you get to your destination use efficient transport to get around… buses, trains or RIDE A BIKE!!

We can also reduce our carbon footprint by:

Turn off the air conditioning: AC uses nearly 50% of the energy used in hotels and accommodation. If you go to the tropics, enjoy the tropics!!!
Put up the “Do to disturb” sign: Cleaning rooms and changing towels everyday is just a waste of energy and valuable water.
Eat local and avoid imported foods. Buy the food grown in local farms, not the imported steak!! It supports local jobs and economy and keeps food miles down.
Reduce food waste: Ask for smaller portions and avoid all you can eat buffets. Even better support restaurants that
Buy locally made souvenirs that you will actually use. Find out exactly what it is made from and check that it is actually locally made!!
Use only accommodation and tour operators that really are trying to reduce their carbon footprint. Smaller, basic and locally owned and operated businesses tend to have a far smaller carbon footprint that large hotels and corporations.

And when you get there - Do something positive!

Support Native Forest Regeneration both at home and in the country of your holiday. Plant Trees!!
Support Wildlife Parks: Your entry fee helps to pay for the protection of the environment and the wildlife.
Read our Social and Environmental Care Plans and help us to do the right thing and do it better.
Seek out and support locally instigated environmental, wildlife protection and reforestation projects.
AND PLANT TREES!! We all know that trees are good, they suck up carbon, produce oxygen and just make us feel good. The world is losing around a hectare of forest every minute. So plant trees, at home, and on your travels.

Please read Our Environmental Care Plan (in the following tab). It is a key factor in our research and planning when we develop our tours and is in constant review before, during and after every tour as we constantly strive to lessen our impact on the places we visit.

Escape Adventures Environmental Care Plan

Our Environment Care Plan - is a key factor in our research and planning when we develop our tours and is in constant review before, during and after every tour as we constantly strive to lessen our impact on the places we visit.

Reducing Carbon Emissions
Flying	Escape Adventures: Flies Economy Class! Chooses airlines with fuel efficient planes Books flights with fewer legs / less stopovers Plans back to back tours to reduce flying required for Escape crew members. Supports the proposed Green Flying Duty on aviation, with revenues ring fenced for research and development into decarbonisation of air travel Travels locally by bike (supported) What you can do… Fly Economy! Take fewer, but longer holidays involving air travel Choose airlines with fuel efficient planes Book flights with fewer legs / less stopovers Travel locally by bike, train or bus.
Support Vehicles	Escape Adventures: Short daily travel distances. Compared with other kinds of travel our cycle tour support vehicle means less vehicles and less mileage than other kinds of travel. Plan support vehicles with optimal seating, trailers to minimise the number and size of support vehicles. Educate local support drivers to limit engine idling time. Design future cycle tours as loop tours or to minimise between tour transit drives. Is budgeting to replace fossil fuel vehicles with electric vehicles
Food Miles	In order to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the transporting of food, Escape Adventures aims to: Supply and refill bulk fresh water drinking vessels. Buy local and in-season produce grown in-country (with the exception of bananas), ideally within 100km of where it is purchased!! Buy Local meat and dairy products. All meat served on tour will be grown/produced in the country of purchase. Buy in-country brands or dry supplies as much as possible.
Tree Planting
WE PLANT TREES! There are many carbon calculators available on-line which will all give you a different answer as to how many trees you could plant to mitigate the carbon emissions of your travel. This is not an exact science and we will never say that we are carbon neutral or that we are off-setting or mitigating our (or your) carbon footprint. What we will say is that we have looked at many carbon calculators to get a approximation of how many trees they would plan to off-set a long-haul flight. Using this as a baseline we have multiplied this by a factor of 5 to give us a guideline of how many *FOREVER TREES we can plant to make a positive difference and to make sure that enough of the trees we plant will not only make it to maturity but also keep on contributing for generations to come.
We plant trees!	Escape Adventures: Plants 10 forever trees for every biker and each Escape crew member who travel internationally for our cycle tours. Plants two forever trees for every biker and each Escape crew member who travel domestically for our NZ cycle tours. Plants two forever trees for each support vehicle for the duration of the tour (based on a 16 day tour). Forever Trees: are either trees native to where they are being planted OR food bearing trees planted with the intention of never being cut down. See below for tree planting log… What you can do: Why not plant trees too!
Animal Welfare
Wildlife	Escape Adventures: Supports conservation and restoration of natural habitat Supports wildlife conservation and restoration Escape Adventures does not support domestication/exploitation of wild animals for tourism, animal trafficking, zoos, petting zoos, predator trophy hunting, trade of wild animal products.
Food	Escape Adventures aims to: Provide balanced, healthy meals with a plant based focus. Any beef or lamb served on tour will be paddock raised only. Any pork, chicken & eggs served on tour will be FREE RANGE. Escape Adventures will not serve commercially caught fish.
On our Cycle Tours
Water	Escape Adventures: Says NO to single use plastic drinking bottles Supply and refill bulk fresh water drinking vessels. Make sure this is always available to our bikers. What you can do… Say NO to single use plastic drinking bottles and refill water from the vessels provided.
Food	Escape Adventures aims to: Provide balanced, healthy meals with a plant based focus. Support restaurants that serve meals rather than buffets (to avoid mass food waste). Buy as local as possible - especially fruit, vegetables, eggs, dairy and meat. Improve the world’s soil life by sourcing organically grown or spray free food as much as possible.
Fruit & Vegetables	Escape Adventures aims to: Provide balanced, healthy meals with a plant based focus. Provide fruit and vegetables that are in-season as much as possible. Buy only produce grown in-country (with the exception of bananas), ideally within 100km of where it is purchased. Source organically grown as much as possible. Only buy unpackaged produce!
Meat & Fish	Escape Adventures aims to: All meat served on tour will be grown/produced in the country of purchase. Any beef or lamb served on tour will be paddock raised only. Any pork, chicken & eggs served on tour will be FREE RANGE. Source organically grown as much as possible. Escape Adventures will not serve commercially caught fish. Avoid/minimise single use packaging as much as possible.
Bulk Supplies	Escape Adventures aims to: Buy in-country brands as much as possible. This is to help reduce the carbon emissions associated with Food Travel Miles. Minimise plastic and single use packaging as much as possible by shopping at self-fill shops. Bring our own containers.
Coffee	Escape Adventures says - No keep cup = no coffee!
Waste	Escape Adventures will: Seperate all rubbish into compostables, reusables, recyclables and landfill rubbish. Compostables will be distributed to local composting/worm farm services, or feed to chickens or pigs on route. Minimise plastic and single use packaging by shopping at self-fill shops Paper/cardboard, glass, plastics recycled as much as possible. Careful shopping and food preparation to minimise food waste. What you can do… Please join us in our mission to reduce single use packaging and rubbish. Yay!!
Escape Adventures Head Quarters
Power, Heat, Water	Escape Adventures HQ: Is powered by solar power, and lit with LED lighting. Is heated using passive solar design and a giant decomposing wood chip pile! Is double insulated. Harvests and uses rainwater. Greywater is distributed to land to water native planting
Paper	Escape Adventures promises: To only print when necessary. To reuse waste paper. Paper that can not be reused or recycled is shredded and recycled! What paper we do use is PEFC All printer ink is vegetable based.
Waste	Escape Adventures HQ: Has a composting toilet. Composts all organic waste. Avoids single use packaging and minimises use of short term plastics. Recycles all waste paper/cardboard, glass and (recyclable) plastics.
Every day travel	Escape Adventures: Aims to make short office trips by bike or E-Bike as much as possible. Offers crew incentives to bike to work
Merchandise
Shirts	Escape Adventures Biker Shirts: From 2019 moved to natural fibre branded clothing. (Merino Wool and Cotton) No more synthetic shirts. From 2021 all biker shirts will be made in NZ. From 2021 - ASK bikers if they want shirts (so we don’t give people things they don’t want or need!).
Coffee Cups	Escape Adventures Supplies our bikers with keep cups so that they do not need single use coffee cups From 2021 - ASK bikers if they want keep cups (so we don’t give people things they don’t want or need!).
Postage	Escape Adventures Uses reused postal packaging when available. When reused packaging is not available use only paper / cardboard postal packaging, paper tape. Say no to NEW plastic postage packaging. What you can do… If we send you something, please reuse the postal packaging!
How can we keep improving?
	Escape Adventures will: Keep researching new ideas Run crew training & brainstorming sessions Lead and inspire by example Ask for feedback / suggestions from crew & bikers.

Forever Trees Planted to Date
Year	New Zealand	Tanzania	Cambodia	Kyrgyzstan	Total
2013		390			390
2014		420			420
2015	1000	330			1330
2016		200	210		410
2017		680	210		890
2018		640	120		760
2019	1000	600	80		1680
2020	600				600
Total	2600	3260	620		6480

Check out our specific tour pages to learn more about how we make a difference in...

Kenya & Tanzania

Supporting local businesses
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Elephant Orphanage
The Giraffe Centre adn African Fund for Endangered Wildlife
National Parks
School Visit
Tree Planting

Madagascar

Supporting local businesses
National Parks
Tree Planting

Our Environmental & Social Policy

We love diversity!

Escape Adventures Social Care Plan

Escape Adventures:

What you can do…

How can we keep improving?

Firstly, we can significantly reduce our carbon emissions by:

We can also reduce our carbon footprint by:

And when you get there - Do something positive!

Escape Adventures Environmental Care Plan

Reducing Carbon Emissions

Tree Planting

Animal Welfare

On our Cycle Tours

Escape Adventures Head Quarters

Merchandise

How can we keep improving?

Forever Trees Planted to Date

Kenya & Tanzania

Madagascar