The Travel Corporation Set To Eliminate Single-Use Plastics
In its continued commitment to ensure the environment remains vibrant for generations to come, The Travel Corporation’s (TTC) family of brands has announced for World Environment Day (June 5) that over the next five years it will phase out all single-use plastics from its extensive selection of travel and tourism companies with its “Multi-Year Plastics Elimination Strategy.”
The announcement comes as TTC, under the guidance of their not-for-profit TreadRight Foundation, officially instituted an immediate ban of more than 60 types of single-use plastic items such as straws, stir sticks, water bottles, plastic bags and cutlery from its 40 global offices across its exceptional portfolio of brands.
The single-use plastic ban at TTC offices is the first step in the group’s journey to the complete elimination of single-use plastics across all operations, which will also include the phasing out of single-use plastics across its Uniworld Boutique River Cruises and U by Uniworld cruise ships, all Red Carnation Hotels, and all travel experiences. With 1.9 million travelers annually across the group, it is estimated that TTC’s efforts has the potential to help eliminate the use of millions of plastic water bottles annually.
The group began working towards the elimination of avoidable plastic waste when its Toronto office took the first important step of banning single-use plastics more than a year ago, replacing the items with viable alternatives. That action was soon followed by Red Carnation and Uniworld, who soon eliminated the purchase of all plastic straws and related single-use plastic items from their 17 properties and 20 ships.
“We are absolutely committed to doing our part to eliminate avoidable plastic waste and making a positive impact in the communities that we live in and visit,” says Brett Tollman, chief executive, TTC and co-founder of The TreadRight Foundation. “As a group with offices in more than 15 countries and operating in 70 countries around the world, we recognize the need to do our part to ensure that we do not further contribute to this planetary crisis. We are also encouraging our more than 10,000 team members to join us in this fight by reducing the use and consumption of products contained or served in plastic in their daily lives as well. We hope this sets a meaningful example to other businesses to join the movement in working to stop the scourge of plastics on a global scale.”
It is estimated that an additional eight million tonnes of plastic pour into our oceans every year, this in addition to the more than five trillion pieces of plastic estimated to be littering the oceans at this moment. The larger pieces of plastic injure, impair and kill wildlife, while the disintegration of plastic debris and the manufacturing of microbeads are wholly poisoning marine ecosystems. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, if nothing is done to push back against the deluge of plastics currently overwhelming our oceans there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050.
“Plastics are a clear and present danger to the future of our planet,” says Céline Cousteau, TreadRight Ambassador. “TTC’s commitment to the elimination of single-use plastics across the group inspires hope in the face of a massive adversary and signals to the industry the important role travel and tourism organizations must play in combatting the problem of plastics.”
