Earth Day is an annual celebration that honors the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations. At CAS Trips, we always make a point of acknowledging this special date on the calendar. We are proud to contribute to the fact that—in only 40 years—Earth Day has evolved from a single day celebrating the environmental movement in the United States to a global network that empowers more than a billion people to better understand, protect, and improve the environment.
CAS Trips joins Travelife
To mark our own proud milestone for Earth Day, we are excited to announce that in April 2022, CAS Trips became the first tour operator in the Czech Republic to be awarded the Travelife Partners certificate in recognition of our tangible commitments to integrate sustainability management, reporting, and compliance obligations into our operations.
Travelife is a leading training, management, and certification initiative for tourism companies committed to reaching sustainability. They help businesses operate in a socially and environmentally friendly manner. This partnership empowers us to be more transparent about managing our internal and external activities. We understand that sustainability management is all about commitment and consistent sustainable business practices—this includes our products, how we monitor and manage our impacts, and how we support all those in our network on our collective journey towards enhanced sustainability.
As such, for 2021, we compiled an extensive Sustainability Report that sheds light on the various efforts we have made and where there is still room for improvement. With this in mind, we wanted to share some of the strategies that inform our commitment to sustainability and offer inspiration for ways everyone can help realize the goal of protecting our precious planet.
How you can celebrate Earth Day (every day)
And when it comes to taking action and mobilizing the driving motivation behind this day, there are so many ways to make an impact:
- Speak up about climate change: Earth Day offers an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about climate change, human contribution to those changes, and opportunities to slow the phenomenon.
- Contribute to better sustainability education: Earth Day education programs can provide educators, students, and the general public with resources and solutions to create a healthier, more sustainable planet.
- Encourage others to reflect on the land that feeds us: More than ever, we need reliable information about food and agriculture—such as the use of chemical pesticides, which contribute to environmental degradation.
- Offer suggestions for how to contribute to a greener economy: On Earth Day—advocate for the creation of green industries and jobs that are connected to renewable energy sources.
- Discuss recycling and waste reduction initiatives: There are always opportunities to reduce the amount of waste we produce and increase the amount we recycle and reuse.
What sustainability means to us going forward
We built this company to change lives. Through the educational travel opportunities we offer, we aim to expand the mindset of our students and empower them to be agents of change in the world. By prioritizing locally owned businesses and suppliers whenever possible, we are endeavoring to build partnerships that can truly lift up a community.
As we reflect on our road to sustainability and celebrate our Travellife Partners certification, we understand how important it is to share our efforts in order to both inspire and learn from others. Our Program and Sustainability Manager, Neil Brinckerhoff, captured our sentiment as a team well in stating,
“While priding ourselves on our sustainable approach to tourism, it was obvious to us at CAS Trips that we also needed to prove it. Greenwashing has become so common, and we understand we must approach transparency as an imperative aspect of sustainability. Only through showcasing our efforts can we collaborate alongside our innovative suppliers and partners to inspire travelers. As such, we are quite proud of our small team’s efforts thus far and are eager to continue to challenge ourselves going forward.”
