About Intrepid Travel

Intrepid Travel seeks to enrich travellers’ lives by creating unique, interactive travel experiences around the world through responsible travel. With 600 employees throughout six continents and hundreds of travellers trekking to all corners of the globe, CEO and co-founder Darrell Wade saw the need to make Intrepid Travel a leader in environmental responsibility by reducing the environmental footprint of both employees and travellers.

Intrepid Travel announced in 2006 a goal of becoming a carbon neutral company by 2010 and has since incorporated comprehensive in house carbon reduction programs. The company now offers a range of trips for which carbon emissions have been calculated and offset.

Intrepid Travel Needs

With the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2010, Intrepid Travel needed to take action to reduce their own carbon footprint and become environmental advocates before they started an external carbon reduction program to offset the carbon footprint of travellers. In order to achieve their goal, Intrepid Travel specifically needed to undertake an internal carbon audit, and also assess the carbon impact of travel trips offered to their customers.

ecovantage solution

2007 saw ecovantage complete an extensive energy, water and waste audit and carbon footprint calculation of Intrepid Travel’s Melbourne head office and retail store, and deliver a staff engagement program. The calculation of the footprint provided the value to be offset, and audit reports delivered recommendations to reduce both carbon emissions and costs. Recommendations included replacing low voltage down lights; recommissioning the gas fired hydronic heating to replace the use of reverse cycle air conditioning; the use of personal panel heaters for some employees, water harvesting for use in the toilets and the shading of the glass skylights to the north.

The staff engagement program had to be fun and informative and deliver real cost savings. ecovantage met the challenge by devising an interactive ‘virtual home visit’ for 120 staff at the annual strategy day. Packs of energy saver lights and subsidised home energy and water assessments were also organized for employees.

In 2008, ecovantage completed a second carbon footprint for Intrepid Travel’s Melbourne operations. This allowed emissions from staff travel, electricity consumption and waste generation to be compared between the 2006 and 2007 calendar years.

ecovantage has also worked with Intrepid Travel to complete carbon footprints for its international retail offices and comprehensive carbon accounting for a range of Intrepid Travel’s trips. The trip footprints took into account emissions from jumbo jets through to the humble tuk-tuk.

Throughout the engagement process, ecovantage worked closely with Intrepid Travel’s Internal Climate Change Team to achieve admirable results.

Intrepid Travel & ecovantage – Measurable Results

As a result of implementing ecovantage’s energy efficiency recommendations, including a recommendation to purchase accredited GreenPower, Intrepid Travel reduced their carbon emissions from staff travel, electricity consumption and waste generation by over 50%.Electricity consumption was reduced by more than 20%.

The results from ecovantage’s carbon assessment of travel trips were integral to the development of Intrepid Travel’s recently released range of carbon offset trips.