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Caring for the Environment
Why care?
The countryside and rural communities of south west England (Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerest and The Cotswolds) are amazing, living, working places. David and I both grew up here and since beginning Foot Trails have made a commitment to do all we can to support sustainable practices and run our company in a responsible way that will help protect these areas for future generations.
Visitors are wonderful for the local economy but unless we are responsible too many visitors can damage the countryside. We work continuously to progress our own sustainability strategy and Foot Trails joined the Green Tourism Business Scheme, being awarded a Silver award for good environmental practice in September 2006.
In 2008 Foot Trails was awarded a "Big Tick" by Business in the Community, a member organistation of the Prince of Wales Charities. The award was given in recognition of the work Foot Trails undertakes to benefit the communities in which we work. We continue to aim to be the most sustainable walking holiday company in England.
"For Foot Trails sustainability means responsibility. It's a responsibility we can't ignore." Alison Howell  
What is Foot Trails doing?
We believe passionately in supporting local economies by giving our business to other small rural business like ourselves, which include the transport providers, local country inns, lunchtime pubs and suppliers who contribute to your holidays.
Here are some of the measures we have introduced to your holidays:
- Giving you fair-trade tea, coffee, sugar and cookies so that overseas produces receive a fair price for their products
- Recycling all our office cardboard and paper to reduce the waste in landfill sites
- Printing our 2007, 2008 & 2009 brochure and tariff sheet on paper which is 100% chlorine free and uses material that is at least 75% recycled
- Printing our 2007, 2008 & 2009 brochure with waterless printing, a new process which reduces the need to mix alcohol and water and reduces harmful chemicals
- Donating £1 from every holiday you take in 2007, 2008 & 2009 to support the work of the Wildlife Trusts of Dorset and Wiltshire so we can help make a difference
- Using less paper materials and more e-mail communication to reduce waste
- Introducing policies to monitor the number of walkers on a particular trail at one time, so that impact on the local countryside is minimal or nil
- Encouraging you to travel more by public transport where possible by choosing holiday locations with good transport connections and by providing you with travel advice to reduce carbon emissions
- Locating our chosen inns near to railway stations so that public transport is an easy option, again to reduce carbon emissions
- Reducing energy use with "switch it off" campaigns, low energy lighting and switching to a green energy supply to reduce carbon emissions
- Working with local inns in small villages and rural communities, helping to support our local economy
- Supporting and encouraging local inns who serve food made by local producers
- Encouraging visitors to explore sensibly by advising them of the countryside code and local nature
You can help make a difference
If you would like to support our efforts then there are simple, no additional cost steps you can take yourself, which will make a huge difference and protect our countryside for future generations.
- Public transport: Why not consider coming to visit us by public transport? Train travel can be much more relaxing, sit with your feet up and read a book and feel smug about all those people stuck in a traffic jam somewhere! All our holidays are located near a train station, and we will advise you of travel times and make sure a taxi meets you when you arrive. And yes, train travel does save a lot of carbon dioxide so you can feel great too!
- E-mail: Tell us your e-mail address and we will keep you in touch by e-mail, which vastly cuts down on the amount of paper we use. E-mail is great because you can receive news from us instantly and reply straight back to us too.
- Buy local: When you are with us, why not visit the local shop in the village where you are staying for any supplies you need during your trip, such as bottles of water or snacks? We provide information about local facilities and stores in your information pack before you arrive and many sell delicious cakes and local produce too! We also visit some local producers during some of our holidays, selling for example local cider or apple brandy which you can buy and take home. Yummy!
"For Foot Trails sustainability means responsibility. It's a responsibility we can't ignore." Alison Howell
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