Community Development and Environmental Sustainability

Storytellers is dedicated to providing an environmentally conscientious experience both in terms of WHAT we do and HOW we do it. We seek to minimise environmentally detrimental practices both in the office and on tour. Working hand-in-hand with environmental sustainability is community development: 10% of profits made go toward community development, which for us means environmental-based projects that will help the community here socially, economically and environmentally. Furthermore, we seek to build as much awareness and understanding of the Cook Islands and Rarotonga more specifically, so as to enrich visitors' understandings and experiences while here.

Our environmental practices in the office / behind the scenes include:

  • Being ‘paperless’ as much as possible. Nothing is printed - in fact, there is no printer!

  • We only buy / use what we need, and everything that can be repurposed or reused, is.

  • Biodegradable, eco-friendly products and items are used where possible.

  • Food scraps are fed to animals or composted.

Our environmental practices on / related to tours include:

  • Showing you some beautiful environmental locations on the island, and talking about the environment (where this is of interest to our tour group): the good, the not-so-good, and everything in between.

  • We encourage everyone to bring their own water bottle, and we let guests know about water stations and encourage their use. This also provides an opportunity to let guests know about the environmental pressures that are placed on small islands such as Rarotonga, to help raise awareness among visitors.

  • Using the truck and towing the trailer as conservatively as we can in terms of fuel and minimising emissions. The truck is well-maintained and regularly serviced so that it is always running as smoothly as possible (it would be lovely to have a eco-friendly transfer vehicle in the future, but at this point we need to do the best we can with what we have).

  • Eco-friendly tours: most of our tours are eco-friendly as we use our legs for our walking tours, and regular bikes for our bicycle tours!

Last but not least, the company owner and main tour guide has a PhD with specialist formal education in the areas of environment and people, so you can be assured that there is genuine environmental knowledge and passion engrained in the Storytellers Eco Cycle and Walking Tours company and experiences!