Questions and Answers

Click to jump to your answer:

What is Crystal doing for its customers?
How can we be sure our emissions will be offset if we take part?
How much money does Crystal make from this scheme?
How much CO2 does Crystal produce and from where?
What is being offset?
Why is only this being offset?
How is this being offset and why was that choice made?
Surely Crystal isn't going far enough with this programme?
What do you think of the airline industry and CO2 emissions?

What is Crystal doing for its customers?

The environment is something that we at Crystal care about - but we know that it's also something our customers care about too. For this reason, we worked with Future Forests to develop a programme that lets our customers take action to reduce the environmental footprint of their holidays.

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What is the CarbonNeutral programme offered to customers?

For a cost of £5 (of which Crystal Holidays makes not a penny) - or £10 for long haul flights - customers can balance the emissions caused by their flight. The money will go into a small-scale hydro electricity programme in Germany that reduces emissions at source - thereby making their flight CarbonNeutral.

On top of this, and to help make the programme more engaging and tangible for customers, also included is a new tree sapling planted in a choice of four Future Forests woodland projects around the country.

Customers also get a certificate and map of the forest, as well as a recycled leather baggage tag to use on their trip.

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How can we be sure our emissions will be offset if we take part?

Future Forests is managing this scheme as part of its CarbonNeutral process. All parts of this process, (from offering services to customers like you, to booking your carbon offset and ensuring that your trees are managed properly), are externally verified by KPMG. They make sure that we are doing what we say we're doing - and you can be sure that when you go CarbonNeutral, your carbon offset is always in place.

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How much money does Crystal make from this scheme?

Crystal Holidays does not profit in any way from this CarbonNeutral customer campaign.

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How much CO2 does Crystal produce and from where?

Crystal Holidays worked with Future Forests to work out all the greenhouse gas emissions we emit over a year, from our head offices in Kingston. We looked at everything from staff travel, to the energy and gas we use up, as well as all our waste. The total emissions from all of this come to 1736.7 tonnes of CO2 a year.

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What is being offset?

We've decided to offset all the emissions generated by energy use, gas use, and waste - a total of 516 tonnes of CO2.

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Why is only this being offset?

We wanted to concentrate on those emissions caused by the running of our offices on a day to day basis. We're not offsetting our staff travel (which makes up a lot our our footprint), but we are giving our staff the chance to offset their own travel emissions if they wish, through the same offer we're giving to Crystal customers when they book their holidays. We may look at offsetting other aspects of our business emissions as time goes on, but to start with, we're just looking at our head offices in Kingston.

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How is this being offset and why was that choice made?

We at Crystal were very keen to invest into a project that would have some relevance to our staff and customers. For this reason, rather than invest into an offset project on the continent, we decided to balance our emissions through a tree-planting programme in Oxfordshire.

The trees planted (more than 1500 saplings in total, resulting in at least 700 mature trees) will absorb our emissions as they grow - trees absorb CO2 and turn it into something useful - wood and oxygen. This is a fantastic project that will help to re-instate natural woodland in this picturesque part of the country. Not only will it help to reduce our environmental impact, but it also means that our staff and customers can go and visit the forest, and enjoy the new green spaces we're helping to create.

The forest is called Galleypot woodland, and it's right in the middle of the Cotswold Hills to find our more about our project, click here

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Surely Crystal isn't going far enough with this programme?

The travel and tourism industry is responsible for huge quantities of CO2 Travel and Tourism is the world's number one industry, and Crystal provides work to hundreds of people. Global warming is a real issue, but it is just not feasible to think that everyone will suddenly stop travelling for leisure or for business.

That being the case, we are looking for practical ways that we can reduce our environmental footprint and make a difference. This programme with Future Forests is one step in the right direction. Not only have we 'neutralised' some of our CO2 but:

• our staff have become more aware of their own contribution to global warming
• we are raising awareness of CO2 responsibility to our customers, providing them with a way of doing something practical in relation to their flights
• and for both of the above audiences, with Future Forests we are suggesting ways - aside from flying - whereby they can reduce emissions

Every small step is important. If it were 'all or nothing' then 'nothing' would be done.

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What do you think of the airline industry and CO2 emissions?

Air travel contributes about 2-3% of the global annual CO2 emissions from industry, and that percentage is set to grow as air travel expands over the coming decades. Despite an enormous amount of investment in more fuel efficient engines, more aerodynamic air frames, and much improved air traffic management systems, there is little scope for the industry to eliminate or reduce its CO2 emissions in real terms.

Therefore, this is a prime opportunity for the type of compensation programmes operated by Future Forests. The scheme we have developed with Crystal reflects the true environmental cost of climate change in the price of travel, and it fully compensates for CO2 emissions. This way, the industry does its bit by investing in better technology, and passengers do their bit by compensating for the unavoidable impacts that remain.