Environmental and Sustainability Policy

Why environmental and sustainability policy?

Glacier Adventure is a company that takes sustainability and environmental issues seriously. To achieve success in the direction of sustainability, it is important to adopt sustainable thinking in all areas of the company’s operations. This can only be achieved through continuous cooperation between the owners, managers and employees of Glacier Adventure.

Two of the five guiding lights and values ​​of Glacier Adventure are related to the company’s emphasis on environmental and sustainability thinking. On the one hand, to generally promote increased awareness of the concept of sustainability and on the other hand, to educate and enjoy in a safe way. The tours offer the opportunity to use the environment in which the tour is carried out as a live classroom on climate issues. This creates a unique opportunity for the company and its guides to inform guests about the impact of climate change on the environment of Vatnajökull National Park and connect it to changes in the guests’ ecosystems.

The owners of the company are aware of the responsibility that comes with working within a national park and want to do their part in promoting long-term sustainability both in word and deed. By doing so, we want to open the eyes of our guests to the importance of promoting long-term sustainability and help achieve balance so that the environment we live in can thrive for the foreseeable future.

Glacier Adventure’s environmental and sustainability policy is under constant review as the company adopts new and better technology that reduces negative environmental impacts. Furthermore, we want to use the driving force that comes with employees who bring good ideas and solutions to the table that can improve the sustainability of the company’s policy. It is important that when decisions are made in the company’s operations to compare alternatives, i.e. the option of doing nothing (no change) , or implementing a change. If changes are required they should be sought to achieve benefits for sustainability, the environment and economy, an example of this could be increased waste sorting, investment in vehicles/equipment that run on environmentally friendly energy sources, such as electricity or geothermal energy, Iceland creates a lot of clean and renewable energy, such as hydro power and geothermal energy. Another example is changed procedures, e.g. with the treatment of rental equipment and storing it to extend the life of the product and thus minimize the company’s demand in the short and long term.

Glacier Adventure uses the official quality and environmental certification system VAKINN for Icelandic tourism. Glacier Adventure uses KOLVIÐUR which is an Icelandic carbon fund to offset its carbon use. 

 

What is the current state of the company when it comes to environmental and sustainability issues?

Glacier Adventure emphasizes being an example in environmental matters and emphasizes that employees are aware of the quality and uniqueness of the area where the company’s trips take place. The area we work in is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, among other things because of the culture that has developed in proximity to an ever-changing and fragile ecosystem, and therefore it is important to treat it with caution and respect.

We embrace the concept that we are borrowing the Earth from future generations and want to return it in the same condition it was passed on to us.

 

Glacier Adventure Sustainability Center

The owners of Glacier Adventure, in collaboration with stakeholders, are developing a sustainability center.

The sustainability center is intended to serve a multifaceted role, e.g.

  • Establish relationships with school groups and develop trips for those who emphasize environmental and sustainability issues
  • Establish relationships with scientists and assist with their projects, such as those working on projects at the BSc, Master’s and PhD levels
  • Promote the connection of different stakeholders, ordinary people, scientists and those who contribute to policymaking, such as politicians and political parties.
  • Work with key institutions in the local community with the goal of supporting their sustainable development.
  • Disseminate material that scientists have worked on and that the association has supported, this is done both by publishing material on the website and using the Barn to disseminate the material.

Glacier Adventure has already started to provide services to school groups that come on trips organized by the association and work with the groups after trips in the sustainability centre, where, among other things, they watch the short film After Ice by Kieran Baxter, explore a virtual reality world that is supposed to arouse interest in sustainability and work in groups with students where they educate each other after answering questions that were developed in collaboration with the University Center in Höfn. Glacier Adventure has also formed relationships with scientists where we assist in obtaining data for research, rents out rooms for shorter and longer stays, connects scientists, supports them in equipment purchases and with advice, etc.

The Sustainability Center is an ever developing center that will develop in the way the participation of different stakeholders will use it.

At the moment it is inevitable for Glacier Adventure to use a vehicle to get to the places you are traveling. We keep all use of vehicles to a minimum and also the use of fossil fuels in the company’s operations.  We do that by using environmentally friendly vehicles where possible. The company’s vehicle renewal policy is progressing well and today the company operates 

  • Four 4 electric vehicles
  • Two 14-person 35″ sprinters, which are the first vehicles out when possible
  • One eight-person 35″ sprinter, which are the first vehicles out when possible
  • One seven-passenger 33″ Toyota used for smaller groups.  

The following cars are used when driving conditions are difficult due to heavy snow and or when big days occur in the companies. 

  • One 11-passenger 40″ 
  • One 14-passenger 40″ 
  • One 14-person 46” econoline 
  • One 13-person 46″ econoline

Glacier Adventure is a participant in Kolvið which is a carbon offset fund in Iceland.  We offset our carbon use by paying Kolviður the right amount to plant an equivalent amount of trees annually to carbon offset all our oil, gasoline and gas use.

The company’s current goal is to be carbon neutral by the year 2030.

Glacier Adventure will continue to place great emphasis on minimizing waste that goes to landfill by increasing waste recycling and encouraging the company’s guests to do the same.

Today, all trash that is recyclable from both employees and guests goes to recycling. At Hali there are marked containers for recycling. The categories that are collected for recycling by the company are: Organic waste, plastic, paper, glass, returnable packaging, hazardous materials such as electronics and oils you will find from food products. 

Glacier Adventure uses renewable energy for a big part of its operation, both when it comes to cars and housing.   The base camp in Hala is heated with geothermal energy located at Hala. Other energy sources used in the base camp is electricity from the hydro power plants in Iceland.

Glacier Adventure has set the following goals for the company’s purchases of products and services. When products and/or services are purchased by the company, the price is not the only consideration when choosing a product and service, but also the quality and lifetime of the product/service, where and how the product is produced and where it comes from. Furthermore, we seek to extend the lifetime of products, for example, applying organic bee wax to shoes we use for rental boots to our clients, taking good care of equipment, tools, and work clothes so that the infrastructure is used for as long a time as possible. This reduces the demand required from Glacier Adventure as much as possible as an operation.

Glacier Adventure sends and collects electronic invoices, thereby minimizing the printing of materials and also requests that as little printed material as possible be sent to us.

The owners of the company have a policy that when new technological advances in energy conversion come to light, it will look for ways to implement them into the company’s operations to ensure carbon neutrality. Examples of this are electric cars and other rechargeable electrical devices that replace older carbon-powered electrical devices, such as re-chargeable headlamps, chainsaws and lawn mowers.

The following aspects can be measured annually in the company’s operations and compared with developments in recent years:

  • Electricity consumption
  • Hot water consumption
  • Petrol and oil and gas consumption

 

Where do we want to go when it comes to environmental and sustainability matters?

Glacier Adventure wants to be an example and is always looking for ways to improve when it comes to environmental and sustainability matters.

Regular staff meetings are held and all matters related to the company’s operations are reviewed, including environmental challenges and how we can improve in this area are regularly discussed, it is important to realize that there is always room for improvement.

To success, Glacier Adventure will promote and follow the following guidelines:

Engage in continuous and active collaboration with employees and guests of the company on ways to direct operations on a more sustainable path.

Start environmental accounting and measure the factors that require the most demand, such as gasoline and oil consumption, water consumption ( only thing we are not able to measure at the moment ), geothermal water use, electricity consumption, waste discharge. We want to maintain the company’s purchasing policy and pursue the “best way of practice”.

After green accounting has been established, it is important that owners, managers and employees set common goals to reduce energy consumption and general waste. Review different ways to achieve realistic goals. As technology advances, it is important to adopt innovations and implement them into Glacier Adventure’s operations.

 

What ways are possible to achieve our goals ?

For a company like Glacier Adventure, it is important to be vigilant about everything we can do, by promoting nature conservation and being organized in purchasing, recycling and socializing. We emphasize that employees are participants in this project and encourage them to come up with ideas for how to do better.

Here are a few points that we have been working on and are working on:

  • We have been members of Kolvið (Icelandic Carbon fund) since November 2017
  • Cars are kept running as little as possible and never unnecessarily.
  • Staff travel together to and from work in electric cars, we drive about 100 km daily in three electrical cars.
  • We encourage our customers not to print out the ticket that they receive in electronic form when booking, it is enough to show us the booking in electronic form.
  • We recycle all trash that is recyclable and put it in marked bins We turn off lights when no one is in the area and use energy-saving bulbs
  • Water is used sparingly and not left running unnecessarily. We point out to people that it is perfectly safe to drink Icelandic water straight from the tap and straight from rivers and streams, the best and coldest being straight from the glacier. There is no need to buy plastic water bottles at the supermarket.
  • We re-use everything that can be re-used
  • We have a clear purchasing policy
  • Environmentally friendly materials: we use them when cleaning the premises and reception. 
  • We use towels instead of paper towels
  • Customers see that we recycle waste
  • Glacier Adventure participates in community projects related to nature conservation and participates in discussions about the development of the local community.
  • We conduct eco-driving
  • We educate our employees and keep them informed about environmental matters and developments in environmental matters.

We support the Leave No Trace principles and emphasize that both employees and customers show respect for nature.We educate our guests about responsible behavior in nature and encourage them to:

  • Leave nothing but footprints and take all visible waste with them,
  • Stay on marked paths, trails and designated areas where applicable,
  • Avoid disturbing vegetation, landforms, ice formations and other natural monuments,
  • Respect wildlife and keep a reasonable distance from animals,
  • Follow the rules of protected areas and other instructions on behavior,
  • Show consideration to other guests and staff and respect the natural experiences of others.