Burðardygd

62°N SUSTAINABILITY POLICY

At 62°N we want to increase the focus on sustainability in the travel industry, both socially, economically, and environmentally. Although we are a small company, we are committed in this matter and strive to be a responsible local partner and place of work with a natural daily focus on local sustainability. We recognize the importance of protecting our nature. 

Our guidelines are regularly updated. 

62°N is a locally owned company, and our operations are divided into three different areas, namely travel agency, hotel, and car rental. We encourage all our staff members to participate in the following events on the Faroe Islands:

• The voluntary and national nature cleaning event in the Faroe Islands called ‘Rudda Føroyar.’
• ‘Útivikan’ – a week in May, where you leave your car at home and walk to and from work.
• 62°N pays for possible participation fees for staff who want to join local running competitions, which support a specific cause.

All staff members doing administrative work at 62°N follow these simple guidelines:

• We do not print on paper unless it is necessary.
• We print on both sides.
• All client documents, such as vouchers, flight tickets, invoices etc. are sent by e-mail.
• Left over paper is used for taking notes.
• All waste goes through our waste sorting.

 
HOTEL

• All rooms are equipped with refillable soap dispensers
• The soap is environmentally friendly.
• We encourage guests to re-use their towels when possible.
• Our breakfast buffet contains no plastic packaging for butter, jam etc.
• We use many of the same ingredients in our breakfast buffet and in our café to avoid food going to waste and to avoid buying unnecessary amounts of food.
• Left over bread is donated to a happy local farmer to feed the animals on his farm.
• We use a local supplier for the meat in our café.
• We have rich supplies of probably the best tap water in the world, and best of all; it is free! We encourage all guests to drink tap water, to reduce the need for plastic bottled water.
• All waste goes through our waste sorting.

TRAVEL AGENCY

• All travel arrangements are made with respect for local culture, nature, religion etc.
• We choose sustainable alternatives, where it makes sense and is a valid option.
• We buy local goods/services that are delivered under socially responsible circumstances and have taken the necessary measurements for the environment.
• We have focus on sustainability when we are developing new activities with our partners.
• Our package trips never contain anything with a negative effect on nature and animal life.

CAR RENTAL

• We always try to have as many hybrid vehicles in our fleet as possible.
• We are regularly in dialogue with the Faroese government to improve the possibility to rent out electric cars with more charging stations around the islands.
• The soap used for cleaning the cars’ interior and exterior is environmentally friendly.

PARTNERS

• We inform all our partners, both current partners and new partners, about our focus on sustainability and social responsibility.
• We will carefully analyze all new partners in accordance with sustainability.
• We work with partners that meet and follow the laws of their nation and do not support discrimination, child labor, corruption, animal abuse or sex tourism.
• We will favorize and purchase from suppliers with a sustainable profile.

CLIENTS

We also expect our clients and guests to behave in a certain manner to help us protect the environment and nature.

• We expect our clients to respect the privacy of all inhabitants living in the Faroe Islands.
• We ask them not to take pictures of the local people unless they approve of this.
• In order to protect nature, we ask our guests not to pick up flowers, not to remove rocks, nor to litter.
• We expect our guests to respect animal wildlife in the Faroe Islands and to not touch, chase or disturb the animals.
• When going on a hike in nature, we encourage our guests to stay on the routes assigned for walking. This helps protecting animal life in the Faroe Islands. We happily assist our guests with further information or book a local guide for them, if needed.

GROUPS

• All land-based transport is arranged carefully, avoiding unnecessary transportation, and we are focused on booking suitable transportation solutions (e.g. size of busses) according to group size, in order for these to match.
• We always inform our groups of littering not being acceptable, and that trash should always be disposed correctly.
• All groups are informed about our expectations towards client behavior listed under section ‘Clients’ in our Sustainability Policy.

Leivur Samuelsen, CEO