Carbon Offset Case Study

In 2011, Really Wild Challenges offset 81 tonnes of CO2 emissions (office utilities and flights).

This was achieved through the Family Energy Project, an award winning renewable energy solution that meets the basic energy needs of low-income Africa. The project replaces traditional fossil fuels used for cooking, lighting and treating water with ground breaking clean technology. The use of fossil fuels in local communities not only has an adverse effect on the environment, but also has direct implications on the communities themselves.

• Really Wild’s 81 tonnes was offset by introducing the family energy project to Mabogini, Rural Moshi, Tanzania.
• Instead of using traditional fossil fuels for cooking, lighting and treating water, they now use solar stoves. The food is put inside the box with a transparent lid and left outside in the sunshine. After a few hours the food is cooked.
• The environmental benefits include reducing carbon emissions, slowing deforestation; improving local knowledge of renewable resources and sustainable development.
• At the same time the project creates jobs for climate entrepreneurs who then go out and sell the family energy project (solar stoves) to other villages. This alleviates wood-fuel and charcoal costs and eases energy poverty.
• This in turn improves the health of women and children by providing smokeless cooking (as the stove is outside in the sunshine!) and keeping them out of hazardous environments.
• Women and children have increased access education as the project allows children to spend time in school, rather than collecting fire-wood.

Bahati Mchau is a 40 year old mother of three from Tanzania. She now has access to the renewable energy technologies, including a solar cooker. Keep an eye on the case study below to see how she’s getting on;

December 2011

“I think great changes will come when get the solar stove cooker - I will not go to the forest to collect firewood and my health will be in a better condition.

At the moment, I use firewood for cooking my family meals and also for my business; I cook Maandazi (A local speciality). When I cook with firewood, the smoke which comes out affects my chest.

I was once bitten by an insect which poisoned my whole hand and left it paralyzed, I went to the hospital. Another time my finger was almost cut off when I was trying to break a tree into pieces with a bush knife.”

We offer all our customers the option to support this project by choosing to offset the emissions from their trips.

Family Energy Project (PDF)

Our Commitment to the Environment

As a responsible tour operator, we are passionate about our planet and we are committed to travel that does not place unnecessary strain on our planet’s precious resources. We encourage everyone taking part in our exciting challenge events to respect local ecosystems and ‘take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints’.

In the UK:

1. All our branded stationary is carbon neutral, manufactured using wind power. Green seal and FSC certified it is acid free, environmentally friendly, recycled paper. We also ensure we recycle any waste paper in the UK office, in order to further reduce our carbon footprint.
2. For travel in and around Edinburgh staff are encouraged to use public transport, and we are part of a national shared-car scheme for when public transport is not practical.
3. We aim to reduce the impact that challenge event flights have on the climate. We offer a carbon offset option through Climate Plus, that allows participants to offset their flights in a sustainable, ethical way by making a donation to ClimatePlus, which then offsets their flight emissions through projects facilitated by Climate Plus (Hyperlink link to Climate Plus page).
4. We have made a commitment to offset all international flights made by staff and senior partners in 2012.

In our destinations:

1. A large part of protecting the protecting the environment for us is choosing alternatives paths. For example the Salkantay Trail in Peru is by far one of the quietest routes to Machu Picchu – the Inca Trail has over 500 people per day on it, so we are creating a more sustainable way to get to Machu Picchu, which makes for a better trekking experience as well!
2. Our guides and porters are always careful to leave as little trace as possible of our presence when we visit remote locations; we never leave any rubbish behind.
3. We purify all drinking water during our treks, rather than relying on bottled water. This makes a huge difference to the local environment as bottles take tens of thousands of years to biodegrade.
4. We provide our customers with organic food for their adventures whenever possible. This is often bought from local producers. For example, all food for the Kilimanjaro climb is bought from Moshi central market. This reinvests money into the local economy and supports local farmers (particularly women) who grow their produce without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides.