Managing our supply chain
Wherever possible we try to use local suppliers to enhance community benefits and reduce the impacts of travel. We have employed Ampersand, an Abingdon-based design consultancy, for the past decade, and Seacourt, an Oxford-based environmental print company, for nearly 20 years. Our mailing house, Jordan & Co, are based in nearby Witney. Support for our servers and ICT is provided by Centranets, and our stationery requirements are supplied by Isis Specialist Office Supplies, both of which are based in Oxford. In addition, our pensions provider TCS Life and Pensions Ltd, who offer an ethical money purchase scheme for staff, is located within a few hundred metres of the Earthwatch office.
The way we work
Our environmental and social principles form a continuous thread throughout our whole operations, so you'll find examples in every area of our work:
- Pencils produced for the Travel Show in January 2007 were made from recycled vending cups
- Our volunteer t-shirts are sourced from T Shirt and Sons Ltd, the UK's only Soil Association certified organic t-shirt printers, located in Wiltshire. We also ask for the t-shirts not to be individually wrapped in plastic, as is usually standard practice.
- Instead of sending Christmas cards in 2006, we sent Corncockle seeds (Agrostemma githago 'Milas') - a native wildflower which was once widespread in cornfields but is much reduced in abundance due to changes in crop type, increased herbicide use etc.
- Our annual expedition guide is now sent out in degradable and recyclable mailers.
International research projects
Providing long-lasting benefits to communities is at the heart of our research programme. We endeavour wherever possible to ensure that supplies for field research projects are sourced locally, and that any jobs created are recruited from local communities. Examples of this include:
- The Malaysian Bats project employs people from two indigenous tribal groups providing income for local people.
- Volunteers joining Dr. Rismiller on the Echidnas and Goannas of Kangaroo Island project are immersed in the inspiring atmosphere of the solar-powered Pelican Lagoon Research and Wildlife Centre - a world class research station and model of sustainability. Wherever possible, locally grown fresh vegetables and dairy products are used.
- Ravi Corea, Sri Lankan lead scientist on the Earthwatch project Sri Lanka's Elephants, has set up a Field Scouts Programme to recruit qualifying village youth and train them to conduct field observations and surveys. Eight young workers are currently employed as scouts, developing their skills and employment opportunities by gaining the experience to become future naturalists, eco-tourism guides or members of the Department of Wildlife Conservation or Forest Department.
- On the Namibian Cheetah project, employment has been provided for the local community with a total of 47 Cheetah Conservation Fund staff positions and another 30 bush harvesters.
- Researchers and volunteers taking part in Macaws of the Peruvian Amazon benefit the local economy by buying food, gas and other supplies, hiring Peruvian biologists as project staff and members of the native community as assistants.
Office supplies
We only purchase Fair Trade tea and coffee for use in the staff kitchen, and use Ecover washing up liquid and cleaning products, the world's largest producer of ecological detergents and cleansing products. Sandwiches for lunch meetings are sourced from our local delicatessan or supermarkets.
Print and design suppliers
Earthwatch has strict printing guidelines in place. All our approved printers have ISO14001 accreditation and use the waterless printing process. For more information see our Paper Usage and Waste section.
Our designers Raincoat are based on a LEAF farm (Linking Environment and Farming), and are committed to becoming the leading environmentally and socially responsible design agency in the UK by 2010.