When we leave – nothing but prints in the snow should remain!
Working sustainable was always part of our business plan and vision when we decided to launch White Trail Adventure in 2010. Our goal was to harmonize environmental protection, better management of natural resources, the well-being of our husky dogs and optimal support for our team. This wasn’t meant to be a continuous process seamlessly integrated into our daily routine, just like any other task.
In 2020, we finally began to develop and implement a comprehensive Sustainability Development Plan (SDP). This required resources: time, expertise in sustainability and financial and human assets. For a micro-business like White Trail Adventures, this represented a significant undertaking. In 2021, with the financial support by the Swedish government, through Tillväxtverket, we were able to apply for two important certifications: the Sustainable Arctic Destination Seal and Nature’s Best® Quality Label, that we are very proud to announce we have obtained in 2022.
Sustainable Arctic Destination Seal is a certification programme aimed at promoting sustainable tourism development in Kiruna in Swedish Lapland and was granted to our company by Kiruna Lapland Economical Organisation after a thorough audit. The assessment process took several months and it will be followed by a biannual evaluation.
Nature’s Best® Quality Label is Sweden’s only sustainability label for nature-based experiences that functions both as a systematic tool for nature and cultural tourism companies’ sustainable business development and a quality label that makes sustainable experiences visible to conscious travellers. The accreditation process took several months and the evaluation process is periodical. Since 2023 the Nature´s Best Quality Label is acknowledged by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
For us these third parties’ certifications are an important confirmation of our efforts in achieving sustainability throughout our business. We are aware that running a sustainable business is a permanent process and commitment, not a one-time project. It is an effort that cannot be achieved without the support of our team, business partners and nevertheless with your support, as guests.
Our policy areas…..
Our sustainability policies outline our commitment to ethical and environmentally friendly business practices in five areas: guests and tours, our huskies, environmental protection, employees, and neighbours.
- Guests and tours
Our priority lays in delivering good services and activities, safe tours with no unnecessary harm and applying nature conservation and protection regulations. We request feedback from our guests and integrate it in our policy in order to continuously improve the services and activities. Furthermore, we aim to inspire our guests to embrace sustainability in their private lives.
- Our huskies
We focus on the welfare and the safety of our dogs since they are sentient beings and the assets of our company, compliance the regulations. More information about our dogs you can find here.
- Protecting the environment
Aim of the company is to reduce or compensate the overall CO2 emission, in order to reduce air pollution. Another priority is to reduce our waste, particularly the plastic waste, by recycling, reducing or reusing waste. We aim to have zero food waste and to reduce the electricity consumption.
- Employees
Our employees are trained to always act and ensure the safety of all parties: guests, dogs and themselves. New employees are mentored by providing a practical ‘on the job’ training
and a theoretical training by providing a ‘Guide manual on guiding tours’. We inform all our staff members about changes in the policy and ask for and incorporate their feedback for continuous improvement. We aim to inspire all employees to think and act sustainable in their daily work tasks.
- Neighbours
In order to not disturb the direct neighbours, White Trail Adventures is not conducting any business activities during late hours. Priority to the company is communication and compliance with informal regulators that help achieving sustainability in the tourism sector in Kiruna. We also cooperate with other tourism companies that are also aiming to achieve a sustainable business.
For our guests who visit us a full copy of the SDP is available at Mushers’ Lodge, our guest house and some first results of our work you can find here….
