Better Places
Zuid-Holland, Netherlands The
May 2018
Travel agency & related
Service with Minor Environmental Footprint
Germany,
Netherlands The
Better Places mission is to create better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit. They are committed to making a social impact above making a profit. Founded in 2014, their global network currently incorporates some 40 destinations and many more communities whom they seek to benefit through local employment and direct interaction with travellers. Their trips encourage travellers to respectfully connect with locals, tread lightly on the environment and spread the economic impacts of their travels as widely as possible. Their trips provide their customers with exceptional, intimate experiences of the destination through small-scale tourism, with opportunities for staying in homestays or family-run accommodation; excursions to meet local people whilst supporting community and/or Fairtrade projects, and learning first-hand about local culture, heritage, fauna and flora knowledge from experienced local guides. They give preference to local and sustainable/Fair Trade suppliers; they have a written policy giving preference to female-owned suppliers; they donate 10% of their annual net profit to intitiatives that make the world a bit better. They offset 100% of GHG emissions generated from trips; they encourage clients to book the least polluting trips through measuring and comparing whole trip and international flight CO2 emissions; they encourage clients to use fewer single-use plastic bottles. It is their aim to go completely single-use plastic bottle free on all of their trips by the end of 2019.
Overall B Impact Score
Governance 14.3
Governance evaluates a company's overall mission, engagement around its social/environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This section also evaluates the ability of a company to protect their mission and formally consider stakeholders in decision making through their corporate structure (e.g. benefit corporation) or corporate governing documents.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Governance 14.3
The Governance Impact Area evaluates a company's overall mission, engagement around its social and environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This section also evaluates the ability of a company to protect their mission and formally consider stakeholders in decision making through their corporate structure (e.g. benefit corporation) or corporate governing documents.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Workers 27.0
The Workers Impact Area evaluates a company's contributions to its employees' financial security, health and safety, wellness, career development, as well as overall engagement and satisfaction. In addition, this section recognizes business models designed to benefit workers, such as companies that are at least 40% owned by non-executive employees and those that have workforce development programs to support individuals with barriers to employment.
Community 31.5
The Community Impact Area evaluates a company's engagement with and impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from. Topics include diversity, equity, and inclusion; economic impact; civic engagement; charitable giving; and supply chain management. In addition, this section recognizes business models that are designed to address specific community-oriented problems, such as poverty alleviation through fair trade sourcing or distribution via microenterprises, producer cooperative models, locally focused economic development, and formal charitable giving commitments.
Environment 11.2
The Environment Impact Area evaluates a company's overall environmental management practices as well as its impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of a company's operations and, when applicable, its supply chain and distribution channels. This section also recognizes companies with environmentally innovative production processes and those that sell products or services that have a positive environmental impact. Some examples might include products and services that create renewable energy, reduce consumption or waste, conserve land or wildlife, provide less toxic alternatives to the market, or educate people about environmental problems.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Customers 0.8
The Customers Impact Area evaluates a company's stewardship of its customers through the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels. In addition, this section recognizes products or services that are designed to address a particular social problem for or through its customers, such as health or educational products, arts and media products, serving underserved customers or clients, and services that improve the social impact of other businesses or organizations.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.