Leave No Trace
We provide all water on the expedition trails, which is first filtered with a katadyn filter, boiled or treated with purification tablets. We encourage all clients to bring their own water-bladders and water bottles to be filled each day in an effort to eliminate or minimise the need for the purchase of single use plastic water bottles. We minimise the amount of canned and packaged goods on our expeditions, reducing our non-biodegradable waste. All biodegradable waste is buried deep in the ground, far from water sources, breaking down over a short period of time. All other waste is carried off the expedition and disposed of in a responsible manner.
We enforce a strict Leave no Trace policy on all expeditions. We educate all our clients in how to minimise their negative impact in the environments in which they travel and offer leave no trace training on every expedition. We encourage them to take ownership of their interactions with the environment and consciously make every effort to leave it as found. Whatever is brought with us on expedition from equipment to food, must be taken away again. Tracks and trails are followed as much as possible to avoid any additional disturbance to local ecosystems. All clients are encouraged to give any animals they encounter a wide berth, to avoid unnecessary trauma to the animal and potential danger to themselves. You can read more about the Leave no Trace philosophy here – leavenotraceireland.org
Explore Globally, Think Locally
At Earth’s Edge we want to put money directly back into the local economies of the countries we visit. We stay in small, locally run hotels where possible, avoiding big international chains. We encourage clients to visit the local markets and to pay market price, where fair and reasonable. All food supplied on the trail is sourced fresh from local markets. We place a strong emphasis on the importance of sourcing locally wherever possible and illustrate the value of this for the local communities to our clients.
Your safety is our priority. There will be a full team on the expedition including your leader, doctor, guides, Sherpa, porters, and other support staff. Our Earth’s Edge teams in each of our destinations are highly experienced and very familiar with the expedition route, local history, cultures and customs of the region.
We offer advice on tipping to all our clients. We ensure the money is divided fairly between the Earth’s Edge teams in each of our destinations. We offer specific tipping advice for each of our destinations in keeping with the local guidelines on best practice.
On every expedition, we try to participate in cultural and social events such as traditional dance and song, visit local NGOs and co-ops and frequent local festivals and celebrations. We encourage our clients to partake in local traditions whenever possible.
Sustainability plays a significant part in our selection processes for services in every destination. We request and review supplier environmental policies, staff compensation details and their impact on their wider community.
