Our Commitment to the World

Since the very beginning, we have been committed to responsible travel and sustainable development around the world.

At the company headquarters in Seattle and during our expeditions abroad, we work hard to minimize any negative impacts on the environment, while enhancing the environmental, social, economic and educational conditions of places and peoples we visit. Among many other things, we follow these practices:

• We help ensure that our travelers join our expeditions well prepared, well informed, and immensely interested in the places and peoples they encounter throughout our trips. For example, every expedition is staffed with a team of world-class experts who share fascinating insights into the destinations and people we visit. And whenever possible, we arrange to have our travelers meet with local experts, dignitaries, artisans, and families, to gain rare insiders’ perspectives into local cultures. Find out more about our educational program.
  
• We break into small groups to minimize our physical impact at all sites.
  
• We use a state-of-the-art audio tour guide system to minimize noise at all sites.
  
• We employ local guides and whenever possible, work with locally owned businesses.
  
• We provide first-aid kits, clothing, sporting goods, composition books, pencils, rulers, erasers, arts-and-crafts items, and other supplies to rural community centers and schools that we visit.
  
• We commission local artists and businesses to create unique artwork and handicrafts that we give as gifts to our travelers.
  
• We hire local musicians, dancers, and artisans for our special events during expeditions, to support the continuation of local traditions and customs.
  
• We collect leftover local currency from travelers before leaving a destination, and donate it to a local charity on behalf of the group.
  
• More than 90% of Starquest’s employees use public transportation for their daily commute.
  
• We reduce, reuse, and recycle in our offices. In the Seattle, Washington, Moscow, Idaho, and St. Charles, Missouri offices, we recycle plastics and paper; make back-to-back photocopies; recycle ink cartridges; reuse all cardboard boxes and unused trip amenities; repair broken electronic items; test all batteries for reuse; use energy-saving photocopiers and printers; and e-mail documents instead of faxing or mailing them, whenever possible.

We also make sure that we partner with businesses and colleagues who share our goals and can work with us to expand our efforts. Here are just some of the many organizations we have worked with and contributed to:

• America Share http://www.americashare.org
• APSARA Foundation http://www.apsarafoundation.org
• Art of Conservation http://www.art-of-conservation.com/index.html
• Children with Handicaps Action in Namibia http://www.chain.org.na
• Children in the Wilderness http://www.childreninthewilderness.com
• Creative Arts & Crafts Training Center in the Maldives http://creativitymaldives.org
• Daralbir http://daralbir-marrakech.com/daralbir-en.htm
• Eastern Pacific Research Foundation http://www.rapa-nui.org
• Elephant Human Relations Aid http://www.desertelephant.org
• Hayot Center
• HOPE PROJECT http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/cenp/eng/Education/t167607.htm
• Jaipur Foot http://www.jaipurfoot.org
• Jordan River Foundation http://www.jordanriver.jo
• Le Ndomo Workshop http://www.promali.org/ndomo
• Massachusetts General Hospital Division for Global Health & Human Rights http://www.massgeneral.org/globalhealthandhumanrights
• Mercy Center http://www.mercycentre.org
• Mitsinjo Association (NGO)
• Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project http://gorilladoctors.org
• Pyunic Association for the Disabled
• Royal Flying Doctor Service http://www.flyingdoctor.net
• Shanxi Hope
• Siwa Cultural Development Project http://www.cospe-egypt.org/preserving-siwa-cultural-heritage
• SOS Children’s Villages International www.sos-childrensvillages.org
• Uthandosa http://www.uthandosa.org
• Watthan Artisans Cambodia http://www.wac.khmerproducts.com
• Willoq Community http://www.limatoursfoundation.org
• WoMen Against Rape Project http://www.womanagainstrape.co.bw
• Women's Cooperative at Harambee House in the Mukuru Slum of Nairobi

We are also happy to enable travelers to join our efforts. In countless cases, our travelers leave our expeditions deeply moved and personally committed to "giving back" in some way. When asked, we refer travelers to local non-profit charitable organizations and help them personally contribute to preserving and sustaining the local heritage of a destination. These are some examples of the many contributions that our travelers have made over the years:

• One of our travelers was so moved by her experience in Ethiopia that she and her husband are now building a 3-star, 30-room lodge near Lalibela, which so far has provided jobs for 200 Ethiopians.  
  
• While visiting an orphanage in Cambodia during one of our expeditions, a traveler met one little girl who particularly impressed her and pledged to pay for her schooling through college.
  
• During one expedition, while we were in Tanzania, several travelers pooled together enough money to purchase textbooks for a local primary school.
  
• On another trip, one of the travelers was so taken with the experience visiting Angkor Wat that he rallied the entire group to make a substantial donation to restore one of the temples. 

To learn more about our commitment to the world, please contact us.

Also, we are continuously improving and expanding our efforts, and welcome any feedback and recommendations in this regard. If you have any ideas to share, we would be happy to hear from you.