What better way to mark Earth Day 2018 than updating you all on what has been keeping our Green Team busy behind the scenes!
As a Green Tourism Gold Award winner, we are always very focused on keeping Mercat Tours green.
We only have this one planet and we want future generations to enjoy it just as much as we do. We have promised to reduce any of our negative impacts on the environment and actively work towards improving it.
We are therefore trying to encourage our team to live a more sustainable and environmentally conscious life, not just at the workplace, but also in their everyday life. We are encouraging our colleagues to reduce and recycle their waste, as well as electricity and gas usage, to further reduce carbon footprint. Over the past 4 years we have had a consistent drop in electricity and water consumption. Electricity has dropped between 2013 and 2016 on average by 7.2%, this year it even reached an incredible 17.7%. In the last year, we have also reduced our general waste and are getting better at recycling our waste, as you can also see in the chart below.
Furthermore, we are also supporting some local and national charities. By donating 5p to charity for every feedback we receive, online or analogue, we are trying to engage with the community and give back to society. This year we are supporting a campaign to raise a statue for Edinburgh resident Dr Elsie Inglis.
Last year, to encourage our team to stay healthy and fit, as well as reduce carbon emissions caused by the daily travel to work, we have joined the bike2work scheme. But at the end of the day, it is up to every individual to take care of our planet and question their action and behaviour and what impact they have on the environment. Only together we can make a difference.
