Inside Tracks
Offsetting Carbon with ClimateCare
PT Ski is pleased to have partnered with ClimateCare to offset our carbon emissions from the season. As with all travel companies who operate out of a different country, we are conscious of the impact our staff travel causes as we go back and forth between London and Klosters throughout the season.
Over the season we recorded our travel movements, and the cost to offset these was then calculated by Climate Care. We have included our staff flights together with the millage of vehicles used in resort and driving guests to and from the airport. For the 2019-20 season we have offset 24.20 tonnes of CO2.
Climate Care has also helped us to choose projects at the end of the season to support where our carbon offset money will directly have an impact.
We have chosen to support three project this year. Firstly, the award winning LifeStraw Carbon for Water project, which gives simple, gravity fed water filters for families in Kenya. It not only provides safe drinking water to 4 million people, but also cuts carbon emissions by removing the need to boil water in order to make it safe to drink. In many areas there has been a notable decrease in hospital emissions from people drinking contaminated water. Alongside this, villages are also educated about the importance of, and the link between, safe drinking water and health. This project has given communities vital access to the safe drinking water they need and the ability to avoid waterborne illnesses, many of which are fatal in rural areas of Kenya.
Secondly, the Gyapa Stoves project. This initiative is creating a market for locally produced efficient cookstoves which cut emissions, reduce exposure to toxic fumes and decrease fuel bills. The project provides skilled employment for 350 manufacturers and extra income for over 500 retailers. As well as cutting more that 2 million tonnes of CO2, this project has saved 4.1 million people more than $75million on their fuel bills so far. An impressive effort!
Thirdly, we have also supported Ugastoves, a project that provides cleaner cookstoves. Indoor air pollution from cooking on open fires kills more people every year than Malaria. These cookstoves cut emissions, reduce exposure to toxic fumes and decrease fuel bills. Owners have also praised the fact that they use 50% less charcoal and are smokeless which is very advantageous.
Whilst we cannot smugly sit and claim that skiing will ever be completely carbon neutral, there are ways that we can reduce the impact that skiing has. Guests will have noticed that in our quotation document we have included all the necessary information so that, if they wish, they can also offset their own travel arrangements through ClimateCare. Our dependency on snow conditions means that we have a vested interest in limiting the effect that our travel and lifestyles have on the environment. By offsetting our carbon emissions, alongside our continuing project of reducing our single use plastics in resort we are trying, albeit taking small steps, to ensure that any impressions we may cause are negated to the best of our ability to ensure for many years of skiing yet to come!