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To contact us, please click here or call 800-462-2848.
The Responsible Travel Issue, May 2008
Dear Traveler,
 Did you know that May 15 is Bike to Work Day? Here at Backroads our bike rack will be full and we'll celebrate in our courtyard with bagels and coffee. We always encourage biking (and walking and carpooling) to work, not just on Bike to Work Day, but every day. In fact, 2 of the nearly 80 Alameda County teams participating in 511.org's month-long Team Bike Challenge are made up of Backroads employees—a little friendly competition to show our commitment to pedal power (see http://bayareabikes.org/btwd for more). If you're not currently biking to work, this month is a great time to dust off those panniers and give bike-commuting a try. Trust us—it's habit forming!
At Backroads, "sustainable" has always been an operative word. Since we first began exploring the world in 1979, we've been critically aware of our impact upon the environments and communities we visit—and we've always strived to make that impact as positive as possible.
This year, we're teaming up with NativeEnergy to offset the emissions of our support vehicles by contributing to a fund for building renewable energy projects in Pennsylvania and the Midwest. We expect to offset 897 tons of CO2 emissions this year alone. Check out www.nativeenergy.com/backroads for details on these projects and for ideas on how you can personally reduce your carbon footprint.
Backroads is also a sponsoring partner of Climate Ride 2008, which seeks to raise money and call attention to climate change and renewable energy legislation. The 5-day, 320-mile ride from New York City to Washington, D.C., takes place September 20-24.
Read more about our commitment to Responsible Travel here.
Happy travels,
Tom Hale
Founder and President
REDUCING OUR FOOTPRINT:
Backroads has been taking responsible travel seriously since our first biking trips 29 years ago. Creating our vacations for travel primarily on two feet or two wheels has always been our number one way of minimizing negative impact on the environment and the communities around us. We don't stop there.
STEP 1: Operating 1,000+ biking and hiking trips each year.
Just offering these kinds of trips allows us to take thousands of guests through the world responsibly and with minimal impact annually.
STEP 2: Running our trips carbon-neutral.
Since we are committed to providing the best support for you on our trips, we've calculated our fuel usage and are purchasing in-kind "offsets" to neutralize that van support. Through our partnership with NativeEnergy, we will offset 897 tons of CO2 emissions in 2008 by contributing to a fund that helps build renewable energy projects in Pennsylvania and the Midwest.
STEP 3: Increasing our energy efficiency at our headquarters.
We retrofitted 100% of our lighting fixtures at our Berkeley, CA, headquarters with compact fluorescent bulbs, which will reduce CO2 emissions by 14,000 pounds annually.
STEP 4: Inviting you to off-set your own travel to and from Backroads trips.
You can consider off-setting your own travel before and after your Backroads trips. Check out how to offset your air or car travel.
(Remember all of your van travel is already offset by Backroads.)
STEP 5: Distributing sustainable products.
You'll find that all Backroads guest and leader t-shirts are made with 100% organic cotton, all of our water bottles are recyclable, we use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper in the majority of our printed marketing materials, and we implement many other small product choices that make a difference.
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Call: 800-462-2848 or contact your travel agent.