Headwater
A word from Headwater:
Headwater holidays are all about getting you to places you can't go in a car and, as such, are much more environmentally friendly than traditional "fly and flop" fortnights on the beach! In fact, last year, Headwater walkers hiked a staggering 462,000 kilometres; our cyclists pedalled an amazing 520,000 kilometres; our canoeists paddled an impressive 9,000 kilometres, and our dedicated cross-country skiers notched up a further 39,000 kilometres. That makes a record-breaking total of 1,030,000 carbon neutral kilometres in just 12 months!
In a world increasingly aware of the harm that tourism can do, helping to protect the environment - both at home and overseas - is very important to us. So we have to balance the environmental impact of travelling with the immense benefits sustainable tourism can bring to destinations and the people who live there. Helping to conserve natural and cultural assets and injecting often much-needed cash into local economies is hugely important to many of the rural places in our programme.
Working with our overseas
Many of our hoteliers are part of farming communities that have lived off the land for centuries so their menus are based on fresh, home-grown produce requiring little or no transportation and we encourage hoteliers who cultivate their own fruit, vegetables, wine, meat, oils, etc. We also suggest that hoteliers adopt water saving policies – showers instead of baths; towels not replaced daily; and encourage our customers to help them in this respect.
Our local guides are passionate about their regions, and all our reps complete a detailed training course before setting off for the season. We never just ‘drop in’ a tour guide. This allows our staff to offer real insight into the history, culture and gastronomy of the region and this, together with the detailed holiday information we provide, allows our customers to fully appreciate the importance of local traditions.
Flexibility is the key
Although our brochure prices are, in most cases, based on a choice of air or self-drive travel, our helpful sales team will be happy to provide a quote for any combination of travel you require. Eurostar via Paris or Lille is available on all our European holidays and onward travel by TGV can be arranged.
Reduce, reuse, recycle
To reduce energy consumption all lights, printers, photocopiers and PC’s in our office are turned off at the end of the day, and our energy efficient lights are regularly cleaned (dirty bulbs can reduce the effective light output by as much 25%). We’ve also turned down all radiators by 1 degree in a bid to reduce our energy consumption by 10%.
Stocks of bike parts that are serviceable, but not of the quality required for our customers are donated to Colchester based charity ‘Re~Cycle’ who put them to good use building and maintaining bikes for the developing countries of Africa. Obsolete computer equipment is also re-used to avoid unnecessary waste.
All our brochures are printed on paper from sustainable sources (as is our header paper) and are sent in bio-degradable packaging. We recycle all laser toner and inkjet cartridges, donating funds to charity in the process and, of course, all our cardboard and paper waste is separated to allow for recycling. And finally, for 2010, we’ve had our guides/reps' polo shirts produced using organic cotton, Fair Trade & Climate Neutral - certified by the Soil Association, Fair Wear Foundation & the Carbon Trust.
