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We are particularly aware of the damage that can be
caused by visitors to ancient and fragile
archaeological sites, and encourage our guests to
consider this before travelling, as well as
familiarising themselves with local customs,
behaviour and dress codes in order not to offend our
hosts. Our guests can buy Andante refillable
water bottles and cutlery sets so that we can
drastically reduce the amount of waste produced by
our picnics.
Andante makes a contribution to the “Climate
Care” scheme for every flight taken by our
staff members, and we encourage our guests to do the
same. This goes towards projects that offset
the carbon emissions of air travel. We are also
developing more tours that can be reached by train,
to minimise the environmental impact of travelling.
We have set up a regular review of office practice,
to ensure that our office is run with minimal
environmental impact. This includes efficient
use of energy, recycling of waste, selection of the
best materials for printing, and use of
photodegradable polythene bags for mailing.
Staff are encouraged to follow these guidelines and
to suggest ways that we can improve our office
administration further.
We have made contributions towards local projects to
benefit the promotion of archaeological study and
conservation of artefacts, both here in the UK and
overseas. In particular, we have supported a
project to create two replica Roman glass furnaces,
using experimental archaeology in the building and
firing, and using them to blow and work the glass
using ancient techniques. See
www.romanglassmakers.co.uk for more
information.
Andante has also donated to the Archaeological Museum
in Tirana, Albania. In a country with minimal
resources, this kind of support is essential as
Albania establishes itself as a visitor destination
for the twenty-first century.
Andante Travels was a founder member of both the Tour
Operators' Initiative on Sustainable Tourism, backed
by the United Nations, and of the Responsible Tourism
sub-committee of AITO (Association of Independent
Tour Operators).
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