Natural Habitat Adventures (Nat Hab) is offsetting a year’s worth of carbon output for anyone who joins one of the 2020 trips from the company’s new 35th anniversary series, Climate Change & the Wild World.
Following the success of Nat Hab’s Zero Waste Adventure and its decision to offset emissions from its guests’ international flights beginning in 2019, the world’s first 100 percent carbon-neutral travel company and conservation travel partner of World Wildlife Fund will offset all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated in travelers’ daily lives for a year from the date they book one of the designated trips, based on the following assumptions:
- Total home size of 5,000 square feet or less
- Average annual electricity bills totaling $3,000 or less
- Annual air travel outside of Nat Hab at 30,000 miles or less
- Average monthly expenditures on goods and services $3,000 or less (groceries, dining out, clothing, etc.)
- Average annual driving miles per person of 16,000 miles or less in a car rated at 18mpg or better
“Travel needs to become more sustainable, and we feel it’s our responsibility to keep raising the bar on what that looks like—and we challenge other travel companies to do the same,” said Ben Bressler, founder and president of Natural Habitat Adventures, in a written release.
Using a carbon calculator developed by University of California, Berkeley’s Cool Climate Network, Nat Hab is taking a conservative measure by assuming a CO2 output of roughly 60-65 metric tons for its qualifying guests; the average CO2 output for a U.S. resident is actually about 40 metric tons each year. If a traveler books a Climate Change & the Wild World trip and believes their output exceeds Nat Hab’s estimations, the brand will offset them accordingly.
In order to achieve these offsets, Nat Hab will invest in carbon credits in partnership with sustainability consultant South Pole. The credits will fund three community and conservation projects: The construction of wind farms in India, the distribution of fuel-efficient, electricity-generating cookstoves to households in Rwanda and the development of a rain forest biodiversity corridor in Zimbabwe.
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