Sustainability policy

- a la Woods & Water -

THE NATURE EXPERIENCES
Operating as a nature tourism company enables us to contribute to our vision in various ways. Firstly, by creating nature experiences that strengthen people's connection and presence with nature, increase understanding of a place and the life that inhabits it, and raise awareness while promoting well-being and encouraging more long-term decision-making.

Woods & Water's activities should not only be environmentally friendly, but also strengthen the local community and the significance of the location. This means balancing encounters between visitors and the local community so that everyone benefits in the long run from the actual implementation of the activity. (If this is not possible, the activity will be limited or discontinued – sustainable development is not about a company or a product lasting over time, but about ensuring that the place we live and operate in does.)

A VOICE IN SOCIETY
Through lectures and in writing, we aim to be a voice in society and an inspiration to others who are on the same path or wish they were.

We encourage long-term and life-giving development by engaging in social and environmental development issues, primarily locally and nationally. Mostly within our own industry of outdoor and tourism activities, but also in other areas where the principles are often the same regardless of the industry.

Additionally, Linda also lectures on living a simpler life in harmony with nature!

Woods & Water aims to boost ecological and social ecosystems – and everyone's live life to the fullest feeling! So we cherish hidden gems, the quality of life in local communities, and believe that tourism should be measured by qualitative goals rather than quantitative ones.

This is how we do it:

  • We introduce people to outdoor life and various outdoor activities to enhance their connection with nature and awareness.

  • We tell stories about the mythical Omberg and Vättern, about its history and legends of the people and creatures who lived in this place before us. We pass on these stories to the next generation and our visitors.

  • We choose to work with partners who largely share our views on sustainability issues. We may not always agree, but we engage in open and respectful dialogue about it.

  • Our employees are all informed about what W&W stands for and aims to achieve, and they have chosen to support what we do. They also contribute with suggestions on how things can be improved.

  • We have organized recurring workshops on sustainable tourism development for businesses within our destination.

  • We give lectures across the country at high schools, vocational schools, folk high schools, and universities on sustainable tourism development.

  • We collaborate and participate in development work with the municipalities where we operate and with the region we are active in.

  • We have hosted and led joint workshops on sustainable tourism for local residents, politicians, and tourism entrepreneurs.

  • We refer journalists and travel writers to visit us outside the peak season to reduce pressure and spread interest in our destination to other times of the year.

  • In 2021, Linda from Woods & Water led a voluntary, national initiative called Let’s Meet & Talk with the aim of creating dialogues for a more sustainable development of tourism and outdoor life. The result was a video series featuring our meetings and conversations with representatives of Swedish tourism and outdoor life – the episodes and more information can be found on www.letsmeetandtalk.se

  • We do not market to, or collaborate with agents overseas for climate reasons. We work approximately 90% with the Swedish market and 10% with our neighboring countries.

  • We never promote air travel as a means of transportation, we do not provide pickups at airports, and we always recommend our guests to travel by public transport such as train, bus, and local transport.

  • We use local guides.

  • We inform our international visitors about the Right of Public Access (Allemansrätten) and its obligations.

  • We recycle (does one even mention that nowadays?).

  • We mostly buy our guide clothes second-hand.

  • We do not geotag specific locations, but we are happy to mention the area we are in.

  • Only small groups, no more than 15 people, and preferably not more than 8. We do not want large crowds in the forest to disturb wildlife, other visitors, or even our own group members.

  • We calculate our ecological footprint annually:2019: approx. 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide2020: approx. 4 tons of carbon dioxide (due to the purchase of mountain bikes and more business trips)2021: approx. 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide (sold the car in the middle of the summer)2022: approx. 1.3 tons of carbon dioxide (purchase of mountain bikes)

  • We market the low season more than the high season in order to spread visitors evenly throughout the year.

  • On July 15, 2021, we sold the company car – since then, 90% of all guides have walked or cycled to and from work. The car is used on rare occasions during the year.

  • We adjust our guided tours according to the public transport timetable to make it easier for our guests to travel here by bus and train.


What we will never do

  • Blame someone else. We take responsibility for what we do.

  • Defend our ecological footprint – instead, we want to change and reduce it.

  • Offset our carbon emissions and continue as if nothing happened. We choose to work to reduce our carbon footprint instead. We don't believe that planting trees as carbon offsetting works as long as deforestation continues. We need centuries-old forests and biodiversity to store carbon – so we prefer to promote the preservation of old-growth forests first and foremost, rather than planting new trees where we cannot guarantee that the forest will not be logged for 400 years.

  • Say things like "our guests demand/want it that way", "we cannot influence our guests' choices" or "it's the market that dictates". We have 100% control over OUR company, OUR business idea, OUR products, OUR suppliers, and direct OUR marketing to the visitors WE WANT to welcome home to us. Period.

//Linda Staaf
Founder of Woods & Water of Sweden

What we will do next...

Sell the mountain bikes we have used before.

Organize more retreats close to nature.

What we wish we did – but haven't done yet.

We all climb a sustainability ladder... or some sort of staircase. Some have come further than us, others shorter. We don't want to look down on those behind us, but be inspired by those ahead of us. We keep our eyes forward and continue to take steps forward on the sustainability ladder as quickly as we can, but not always as fast as we wish. Sometimes because we still lack insights, sometimes because not everything is in our hands. Sometimes because we know we shouldn't – but think we can keep doing it for a while – until one day it suddenly feels all wrong. We want to be a good example for those coming behind us, and we want to continue to be inspired by those ahead of us – we are aware that we are not perfect, but have chosen to be 100% open about what we do and do not.

What can we do better?

We gladly welcome feedback on how we can work more sustainably and openly with our business. If you have any comments or ideas on how we can improve – please contact us at info@woodsandwater.se.