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Operators work together to cut plastic pollution
A group of six tour operators has created a new environmental initiative aimed at cutting the use of plastic water bottles on their tours.
One Bottle at a Time (OBaaT) has set the target of eliminating up to one million single-use plastic water bottles on their trips and countries of operation by the end of 2020.
The six companies involved in the initiative are Experience Travel, Holiday Architects, Pura Aventura, Selective Asia, Steppes Travel and Wild Frontiers.
The group, which works on an international cross-industry basis, hopes to grow this membership to 100 operators and travel suppliers during 2020.
Currently, holidaymakers use an average of up to four single-use plastic bottles per day on their trips.
Nick Pulley, managing director of Selective Asia and OBaaT spokesperson, said: “Selective Asia has worked for several years to try and eliminate single-use plastic water bottles from our holidays in Asia with varying degrees of success.
“The logistics are challenging, and we realised that we needed to work across the industry with like-minded companies and get our clients onboard to really scale up, meet our ambitious targets and make a global difference to our planet’s future.”
The operators’ moves to cut plastic pollution include ensuring their ground agents are not handing out single-use bottles in vehicles and instead provide clean drinking water in reusable containers.
Hotels, lodges and camps are also no longer putting single-use plastic bottles in rooms and are instead providing drinking water in canisters, as well as installing water stations in public areas of their properties.
“As tour operators, the safety and wellbeing of clients comes first, and OBaaT is committed to providing clean and safe drinking water on their customers’ holidays,” added Pulley.
“There is also a duty of care to the destinations themselves, and we should only leave behind footprints and memories from holidays.”
Rob Gill
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