At Trek Travel, our purpose is to show our guests the world by bike and on foot. Group travel using human-powered modes of transportation is one of the more environmentally friendly ways to explore, but our business—and your vacation—still has an impact on the planet and on the places we visit.
Through our sustainability program, we work to measure these impacts annually, reduce them year over year, and report transparently on our progress. This work isn’t without challenges, but we believe it’s critically important to share what we’re learning along the way.
If you are interested in reading more about this process, you can check out the methodology details here.
What We Measured and What it Means
Welcome to our second annual Progress Report. Here, we share the results of our 2025 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory; the projects we undertook over the past year; the challenges we encountered; and our plans for the year ahead.
To fully understand this report, we encourage you to review our 2024 Progress Report,* which explains where we began and introduces technical definitions referenced here. Scopes 1, 2, and 3 are standard terms used in greenhouse gas reporting and are depicted in this graphic.
Our long-term goals are to reduce total Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 5% annually and Scope 3 emissions per guest per day by 6% annually, relative to our 2023 baseline year (in alignment with current GHG Protocol guidance). Each year, we commit to transparently reporting our emissions—whether we’re ahead of or behind our targets. As data quality improves, our calculations may evolve to reflect best practices and increased accuracy.
*A careful reader of the 2024 Progress Report will notice some differences between the 2024 emissions numbers and 2025 goals reported there and those presented here. As noted above, applying improved measurement techniques and current best practices retroactively can change emissions calculations—and, at times, the structure of our long-term goals. Each Impact Report stands as a snapshot in time and will not be updated, but annual reports will always reflect the most accurate data available for all reported years. Â
2025 Results and Comparisons
Scope 1 & 2
2024 emissions: 414 tonnes of COâ‚‚e
Target for 2025 (5% reduction): 362 tonnes of COâ‚‚e
Actual 2025 results: 358 tonnes of COâ‚‚e
Target for 2026: 342 tonnes of COâ‚‚e
Scope 3
2024 emissions: 34.8 kg of COâ‚‚e
Target for 2025 (6% reduction): 38 kg of COâ‚‚e per guest per day
Actual 2025 results: 37.2 kg of COâ‚‚e per guest per day
Target for 2026: 35 kg of COâ‚‚e per guest per day
As shown above, we met both of our reduction targets, which are measured against our 2023 baseline year. Scope 1 and 2 emissions also declined overall from 2024. This reduction was driven by the transition of our Madison warehouse to renewable electricity in early 2025 and lower vehicle emissions during the year. As a result, our Scope 2 emissions—those associated with purchased electricity for headquarters and warehouses—are now zero.
While we met our Scope 3 reduction target compared to the baseline year, Scope 3 emissions (reported per guest per day and excluding guest travel to and from trips) increased slightly from 2024 to 2025. The primary driver was the purchase of a large number of new bicycles in 2025. Although these bikes will be used across multiple seasons and resold at the end of their lifespan with Trek Travel, emissions generated during their manufacture are accounted for in our total footprint.
Overall, we continue to make small but consistent changes to reduce emissions without impacting the guest experience. Estimated emissions from on-trip meals, accommodations, and vehicle use all declined from 2024 to 2025, and total on-trip emissions per guest per day also decreased. Internally, emissions increased due to a higher volume of marketing materials, increased postage, and a shift from remote work toward more commuting. The most significant increase, however, came from purchased goods—specifically, new bicycles.
What We Did in 2025
In May 2025, we formally introduced our Sustainability Program to guests through a new landing page, multiple blog posts, and our first annual Progress Report. Throughout the year, we also:
- Made our first contribution to Klimate, supporting long-term carbon removal and storage projects
- Designed a new Day Bag for 2026 using recycled materials, with improved durability and reusability
- Conducted a hotel energy survey with ecollective to improve our GHG inventory and better understand hotel-related emissions
- Participated in an emissions-reduction training led by ecollective for our Trip Design Team
- Introduced our Opt Out program, which supports the Las Mosquitas Project through Klimate
- Transitioned from polymailers to 100% recycled and recyclable paper mailers for guest packets
What’s Next: Our 2026 Plan
Many of our 2026 initiatives are already underway, including:
- Implementing vehicle tracking software for our global fleet
- Joining Tourism Cares
- Developing a European tube recycling program
- Conducting an Electric Vehicle charging station feasibility study for hotels and guide houses
- Establishing a company-wide Carbon Reduction Task Force
Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
We’re proud to be ahead of our emissions reduction targets compared to our 2023 baseline. At the same time, we saw a slight increase in per-guest, per-day emissions from 2024 to 2025, driven by higher emissions associated with purchased goods—an increase that was not fully offset by reductions elsewhere in the business.
We don’t have all the answers, and the travel industry faces real challenges on the path to Net Zero. Still, we believe it’s important to take meaningful steps to reduce our impact year after year. We’ll continue to update our sustainability webpage and publish an annual report to share our progress, plans, and methodology.
Have a question or an idea for how we can do better? We’d love to hear from you at sustainability@trektravel.com. We hope you’ll join us on this important journey to help protect the places and communities that make travel meaningful and worthwhile.
