Make Holidays Greener is an annual campaign to encourage all holiday makers and industry to take positive social and environmental action whilst on holiday. The aim is to help to ensure destinations we love are preserved for years to come. This year’s theme is ‘say no to plastic’, with a mission to inspire travellers to reduce their use of plastic. This also ties in nicely to the annual Plastic Free July initiative, which is celebrated widely in Cambodia and across the globe.
As passionate responsible tourism ambassadors we’re excited to be participating and to do our part to raise awareness about minimising single-use plastics. We’ll be using this time to look at our own operations and reflect on any ways we can improve, and we’ll also be engaging our guests and followers on the topic…
Ways we already cut down on single-use plastic
- We always provide access to drinking water refill stations; if guests forget to pack their own refillable drinks bottle, we lend customers our own. Unless there is an emergency, we no longer use single-use plastic drinking water bottles.
- Last year we introduced our triple-bottom-line tote bags, which are usually given to all customers on multi-day adventures with us.
- Instead of using or supplying plastic leaflet holders, we source our’s from a local women’s handicraft organisation and they are made from water hyacinth – they look great, support local employment, and help fund environmental education!
- We’ve replaced all plastic refuse bags with plant-based Cleanbodia bags.
Special celebrations for July
- All guests travelling with Ayana in July will receive a FREE Ayana Journeys’ tote bag (to help you refuse plastic bags when you shop) and a bamboo straw (learn more about the problem with plastic straws here, or visit our friends at Saarti to buy more)
- Follow our social media channels for regular responsible travel tips and other educational resources for your travels.
