Carbon Neutral Escorted Motor-Coach Tours 

Here at American Ring Travel, sustainability is not just a word; it is a journey that we embark on every day with passion, purpose, and a sense of responsibility towards our planet, its people, and the industry we all love.

As we continue to experience extreme weather events throughout North America, and across our planet, it has become self-evident that we must act sooner rather than later to reduce the effects of climate change. Since its estimated that the travel industry contributes approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions, we do play a large role in the outcome. Many hope, even believe, that through the coordinated efforts of our governments through the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP 28), we will be able to stem the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst effects of climate change. But rather than waiting for our politicians and governments to voluntarily comply with the needed reductions, we as an ethical business, and you as concerned partner collectively have a vested interest in the preservation of our industry. 

We, therefore, invite you to join us in celebrating our past achievements while embracing the challenges that lie ahead. Below you will find our summary review of our commitment to responsible tourism, environmental stewardship, and social/cultural well-being of the destinations we visit, and of our staff and guides.

Reduced Carbon Operations & Carbon-Neutral Tours - We pledged in 2021 to operate as a carbon-neutral tour company, prioritizing the reduction of carbon emissions and offsetting unavoidable impacts through reputable carbon offset projects. The carbon offsets purchased over the past 2 years through only verified carbon offset partners have resulted in replanted trees, provided investments in wind turbines, and funded mangrove restoration. These investments are vetted and verified through a network of Internationally recognized companies such as “Verra” to ensure that funds are used and contribute to the published carbon offset amounts in metric tons (mt). The offset certificates measured in metric tons (mt), are published in our tariff and our web site.

Reduce, Re-Use, & Recycle (RRR) – As a tangible part of our efforts, we embraced the three RRR’s of sustainability, and followed through on our action plan initiatives; we replaced energy wasting incandescent lighting with the more efficient LED equivalent bulbs; we replaced water wasting high-flow toilets with low-flow units; we re-sourced our office electricity from higher cost solar instead of the cheaper fossil fuel plan; we changed our coffee to fair-trade brands;  we asked our cleaning service to use bio-degradable and less toxic cleaning products; we expanded the option of a hybrid and remote based workforce; we switched to recycled paper; we introduced a digital version of our annual tour Tariff;  and for our tour documents we streamlined our document pages, reduce paper reliance, as well as, we provided a digital delivery via QR code scanning. On our buses, we continue to tackle the single-use plastic issue requesting our charter suppliers, at the very minimum, use recycled plastic options while asking the bus drivers to use the recycling receptacles available at most National Parks.

“Leave No Trace” & “Take Only” Pictures - We continue to support and educate our partners, guides, and our passengers based on the 7 Leave No Trace principles (i.e. Dispose of waste properly, respect wildlife etc.). Then we also subscribe to the Take Only Pictures philosophy as per National Park Service (NPS) requirements. 

Sustainable Tourism Pledge 2030 – In February 2024, we signed the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge, to demonstrate our further commitment to sustainability. This will allow us to expand our collaboration with other companies within the tourism and hospitality industry, and help us to measure and improve our sustainability performance between now and 2030. Pledge members commit to supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For more information on our commitment, and/or to take the Pledge yourself, please visit the Sustainable Tourism Pledge web site at: https://www.sustainabletourismpledge2030.com/pledge/

It is my hope that others will be so moved by our efforts and will begin their own journey to a sustainable future for the tour and travel industry.

Sincerely,

Richard Groesz

Sustainability Coordinator | American Ring Travel, inc.

Certificates