POSITIVE CHANGE BEGINS AT HOME

At Zoco we are always looking for ways to reduce our impact on the world around us through recycling, using less energy, using renewable resources and supporting conservation and humanitarian efforts locally and in other countries.

Renewable energy
All of the power used at the Zoco office in Lanzarote is generated from renewable energy resources. We have installed a combination of solar panels and a wind turbine to generate sufficient energy to power the office.

To ensure power use is kept to a minimum, all of the Zoco team use low energy TFT monitors or laptops. Sky lights provide the bulk of the lighting and is supplemented, where this is not sufficient, by low-energy bulbs. As part of our office policy we use no heating or air conditioning - If it´s cold we put on a jumper and if it´s warm we open the window.

Paper & Printing
As far as possible, Zoco runs a paperless office. All documents are stored electronically with only essential things being printed. The small amount of paper we do use (approx 2 reams per year) is recycled.

No brochures
Clients do not receive a printed brochure from us and receive their final instructions via email. Clients have to print out their arrival instructions as they contain vital contact telephone numbers, but we try to keep the length of this document to one or two sheets of A4. We also encourage that only the group leader prints out the arrival info.

Car Sharing
Both in the UK and in Lanzarote, Zoco actively encourages staff to share cars when going to work or going surfing. Big cars in the car park just don´t impress us as much as a green planet.

Water
Water in Lanzarote is a scarce resource. In the Zoco office the precious little rain water we get is collected in a reservoir and all the waste water is recycled through a natural lava filtration system and re-used to water the gardens.

Communication
All communication between our Lanzarote office and UK office is done electronically via email. No printing, faxing or posting!

Zoco is a keen user of SKYPE and VOIP. We believe that using the internet to make phone calls is far better than laying more and more new cables and phone lines.

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In its purest sense sustainable tourism is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. It is responsible tourism which is both ecologically and culturally sensitive.
Source: National Geographic Online

Sustainable tourism is part of our company mission for further details see: zoco's mission statement.

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CONSERVATION & HUMANITARIAN OUTREACH

An open mind and and willing spirit can sometimes go a long way. Zoco are invlved in conservation & humanitarian projects at a grass roots level, nationally and internationally.

LOCAL (GRASS ROOTS) PROJECT: Famara Beach Cleanup
This is our way of putting something back to into our local community and helping educate local kids as to their role in preserving their natuaral environment.
For more information see our webpage here: Zoco Famara Beach Cleanup.

OTHER COUNTRIES: ADRA in Albania
Tom de Bruin, the Zoco Company Secretary, and a retired waste management consultant spends several weeks each year in Albania as part of his work with ADRA, a leading non-governmental relief organisation.

Initially Tom and his wife Claudette visited Albania to help with the rebuilding of two schools. The schools were in a terrible state of disrepair and in most countries would have been condemned. Leaking roofs, no heating, damp, falling down walls – the list is endless. None of this is much fun when you consider that most children have to walk almost 5 kms to get to school, often in sub zero temperatures.

While in Albania, the head of the local division of ADRA highlighted the appalling waste management systems to Tom. One major environmental disaster waiting to happen is the way in which industrial and domestic waste is dumped in open tips close to a river. It is only a matter of time before the water supply to the capital city of Tirana is severely polluted.

Tom couldn't resist the challenge and is now studying ways in which to help with this, and other environmental issues in Albania & plans to revisit the area in 2007.

The Zoco Team fully supports Tom and Claudette in their work in Albania. For more information on the schools project you can download fact sheet or to make a donation please contact ADRA via the website.
Web: www.adra.org/

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INTERNATIONAL: SURFAID
Zoco are members of SurfAid and encourage you to help us make a difference. Be a part of SurfAid's effort to combat deadly, preventable diseases in areas frequented by boardriders. SurfAid is a non-profit aid organization improving the health of people living in isolated regions.
Web: www.surfaidinternational.org

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

The ideas below are just some of the ways we can contribute to a cleaner, greener planet. Really everyone can make a difference, start small, think big.

START SMALL

You have the power to make a difference. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big changes in helping to stop global warming.
• Reduce your impact AT HOME
• Reduce your impact WHILE ON THE MOVE
• Help bring about change LOCALLY, NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY
• Download these 10 SIMPLE TIPS to take with you!

After reducing your emissions you can do even more by going "carbon neutral." By supporting clean renewable energy, you can effectively neutralize your personal CO2 emissions. Your small investment will ensure that for every ton of carbon dioxide you are emitting, a ton of carbon dioxide will not be released into the atmosphere. Go NEUTRAL!

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Switch to wind OR SOLAR power

This is one of the best ways to make a major difference to the problem of carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.

Sign up for Eco-friendly electricity solutions in your country and reduce your impact on the earth. Building new wind capacity is crucial in the fight against climate change. If you live in the UK check out Ecotricity.

Wind turbines make clean electricity to replace the conventional polluting sources that cause climate change. Every unit of green electricity from wind power replaces one unit of electricity normally generated from conventional polluting sources such as coal.

Wind is a sustainable fuel source that doesn't produce pollutants of any kind and its energy can be harnessed without causing any damage to the environment. The energy used in manufacturing and erecting a wind turbine is paid back in the first 3 to 6 months of operation. At the end of a wind turbine's lifetime, typically 30 years, it can be removed, leaving behind no lasting legacy.

The manufacture of wind turbines is becoming cheaper and more efficient with the improved productivity of newer designs. This means that more electricity can be produced from more cost-effective turbines. As a result, the cost of electricity from wind is now on a level with conventional electricity costs.

Solar energy
You can help reduce global warming and increase energy independence by bringing solar energy into the mainstream. Supplement or replace your current energy use with solar panels.

Stopping global warming is the challenge of this century — and our success will hinge on our ability to transition to renewable energy. Solar energy — clean, homegrown, and reliable — has the potential to play a large part of the solution. While solar is the fastest growing energy source in the world, we've just scratched the surface of its potential.

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TRAVEL Carbon neutral

Air travel is one of the most serious culprits when it comes to the production of greenhouses gases. The most harmful gas emitted from flying is carbon dioxide (CO2). This is a major greenhouse gas, chiefly reponsible for most of the 'global warming' phenomenon that is now well known to be causing sea level rise and other large scale environmental changes.

At Zoco we realize that surfers, windsurfers and kitesurfers all do far more travelling by air than your average person. The surf trip is an integral part of the surfing experience, and the pros that compete on the world stage travel even more. Which is why we encourage you to compensate for the emissions related to your flight by flying with GreenSeat. And so this is what 'carbon neutral' means- that for each flight enough trees are planted to ensure that the net effect on the atmosphere is zero, or as close to it as possible.

About GreenSeat
When you buy a GreenSeat the proceeds are used to plant, manage and protect forests that store CO2 as they mature. This is done by their forestry partner the Face Foundation (Forests Absorbing Carbon dioxide Emission).

Since the airline industry is a global industry and our climate is a global system they plant the trees in various places around the world. Most planting is done in tropical areas because trees in those areas grow all year long and thus ‘soak up’ CO2 quicker.

When you buy a GreenSeat you receive a certificate that states the amount of CO2 that you have compensated for that particular flight. The certificate doesn’t give you ownership of trees but states the amount of C02 that will be taken out of the atmosphere. In a way it is a receipt of the clean air that you have just bought!
Web: www.greenseat.com

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SUPPORT ECO-FRIENDLY COMPANIES & TRADERS

There are quite a lot of companies actively trying to reduce their impact on the environment and your support goes a long way in encouraging others to follow their example. Here is a short list of some of our favourites:

The Surfers Path
The first 'Green' surfing magazine that set the trend and carved a path for others to follow. The Surfers path is printed on 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper (processed without chlorine bleach) and printed with with non-GMO soy inks.
Web: www.surferspath.com

Drift (Paperless magazine)
Drift Magazine is only available as a digital magazine, using NXTbook as a format. As a reader of Drift you will be helping to reduce the environmental impact of magazine production on the ocean. Also, every time you download Drift it helps support SAS (Surfers againt Sewage) and WiLDCOAST in San Diego, who help protect the ocean around the Mexican border.

Web: www.driftmagazine.co.uk

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SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

As ocean users we are naturally inclined to support those groups that are doing great work preserving our oceans and coastlines. These are just some of the organizations that are doing great work in this field:

Surfers against Sewage
Please support the effort being made by SAS, who campaign for clean, safe recreational waters, free from sewage effluents, toxic chemicals and nuclear waste. Using a solution based argument of viable and sustainable alternatives, SAS highlight the inherent flaws in current practices, attitudes and legislation, challenging industry, legislators and politicians to end their 'pump and dump' policies.
Web: www.sas.org.uk

Surfrider Foundation
The core activities and campaigns that the Surfrider Foundation uses to protect our oceans, waves and beaches fall into the categories of Clean Water, Beach Access, Beach Preservation and Protecting Special Places. Surfrider's greatest strength is their Grassroots, community-based focus and our ability to act.
Web: www.surfrider.org

Save The Waves Coalition
Save the Waves is an environmental coalition dedicated to preserving the world's surf spots. Our goal is to preserve and protect the best surfing locations on the planet and to educate the public about their value. Save the Waves works in partnership with local communities, foreign governments, and other conservation groups to prevent coastal development from entering the surf zone.
Web: www.savethewaves.org

Greenpeace
The origianal Eco-warriors. Greenpeace is a non-profit organisation, with a presence in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

To maintain its independence, Greenpeace does not accept donations from governments or corporations but relies on contributions from individual supporters and foundation grants. Greenpeace focuses on the most crucial worldwide threats to our planet's biodiversity and environment.

Greenpeace campaign to:
• Stop climate change
• Protect ancient forests
• Save the oceans
• Stop whaling
• Say no to genetic engineering
• Stop the nuclear threat
• Eliminate toxic chemicals
• Encourage sustainable trade
Web: www.greenpeace.org

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Spread the word

Help spread the word on global warming. Loads of useful information and downloadable fact sheets, information for educators etc. can be found at the Climate Crisis website: www.climatecrisis.net