Environmental Sustainability
Envoys is committed to ensuring our programs are both protective and respectful of animal welfare and the local communities we visit. We have a series of company-wide initiatives to limit the environmental impact of our global explorations, including carbon offset purchases, tree plantings, and trail and beach rehabilitation projects.
Our Only External Investor
Social impact is in our DNA, with our only external investment coming from the Grassroots Business Fund (GBF).
GBF aims to reduce poverty by building companies which provide sustainable incomes and cost-savings for low-income populations in developing nations. GBF’s market-based approach to poverty alleviation focuses on building “High Impact Businesses” (HIBs) defined as being sustainable and inclusive firms that benefit large numbers of people in target communities.
Sustainable Development
We work with small locally-owned companies around the world, partnering with the Grassroots Business Fund to ensure we do this sensitively. Our programs help communities develop viable, sustainable and inclusive enterprises that lift people out of poverty.
Carbon Neutral
We recognize that the man-made warming of our planet is among the most critical issues facing our world, and that travel is an outsize contributor to the current crisis.
We have undertaken an ambitious and concentrated effort to reduce climate-changing emissions within our offices and our programs.
We are proud that all program flights purchased through Envoys will be made carbon-neutral through offsets going to projects across the globe, like planting trees in Africa and India, putting up wind turbines in Costa Rica, and creating cleaner cookstoves for use in China. We also provide opportunities for individual travelers to make additional offsets, as we work towards becoming net carbon-neutral. All carbon offset projects we support are third-party certified to meet high standards and ensure quality environmental protection.
“Before we even hit the ground, there was an emphasis on comprehending impact on our destination’s environment that I appreciated…Throughout the trip, our Envoys leaders made sure that we continued to be conscious of impact. That awareness of cause and effect is something that often gets lost when traveling, and Envoys did not allow it to.”
Keylee S. • Student
Social Enterprise
Envoys is part of the revolutionary B Corporation community, meaning we are legally required to consider the impact of our decisions on our teachers, our students, the communities we visit, and the environment we all share.
Through our membership in this community of leaders, Envoys participates in a global movement of people using business as a force for good, helping to build an inclusive and sustainable global economy.