As tourism becomes a bigger and bigger industry, it is important to be as environmentally conscience as possible. As carbon footprints mount up from flights, it is refreshing to see travel tourist companies try to offset their greenhouse emissions through a variety of processes. In Edinburgh, it is common to take day trips to the Scottish Highlands to see the majesty of Glen Coe and Loch Ness via tour bus, with your driver/guide showing you the secret spots and divulging interesting local facts.
In order to create an ecologically sustainable practice, tour operators such as Highland Explorer have implemented their own Environmental Charity Offering Scheme. They pioneered this scheme in order to allow guests to donate a small sum to preserving Scottish natural wildlife, while also promising to match any donations. This money goes to the charity Trees For Life, who have planted over half a million trees so far to restore the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands of Scotland and are working towards 100,000 trees this year as part of the United Nations Environment Programme “Billion Trees”.
In todays ecological climate is imperative for everyone, not just in tourism but in all industries, to take steps to make their businesses greener. By self-imposing an environmental scheme, Highland Explorer are leading the way in sustainable practice and in future years I hope to see numerous companies following in their footsteps.