Think globally, act locally.

Wicho & Charlie´s first Guatemalan sustainable tour agency.

Think globally, act locally. Wicho & Charlie´s is one of those companies that understands this very well. Only a few tourism companies are considered sustainable in Guatemala, and fewer are actually collaborating to change the region. I did notice a few things that stood out about the company´s sustainable practices that I would like to highlight.

Generally speaking, when a company claims sustainable operations they´re transparent and have an ethical sourcing of materials, environmentally conscious, waste-conscious and aware of the carbon footprint of the company. For companies, it´s not enough to claim being “eco-friendly”, or shouldn´t be anymore. Wicho & Charlie´s buy all produce and food they later cook for hikers from local farmers at the market in Antigua, cook everything from scratch using gas stoves and then pack the foods in reusable containers for every hiker to take with them as well as reusable water bottles and filtered water, avoiding single use plastic. This alone already gives you a good idea of their values and practices.

Vegan - plant based menu
Wicho & Charlie´s is the only tour company in Guatemala to serve vegan food during the whole tour. Trust me I checked, I´m a vegan. And not just any vegan food, it´s nourishing, and every meal has the necessary calories for the type of activity you´re doing. You can easily guess a nutritionist was behind the decisions they took for choosing an adequate menu. You will feel full, but not overwhelmingly full, which makes it easy to keep on going on the hike after the lunch break and you will feel energized. I asked some of the hikers if they liked the food and they actually did, I didn´t hear a negative comment about that. Points for plant based delicious food! 

There are many studies that have shown there´s a strong correlation between climate change and the production of animal-based foods. Actually, in 2010 the United Nations Environment Programme´s International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management stated that a global shift towards a vegan diet is “vital to protecting the world from the worst impacts of climate change”. It is a fact (you can look it up here) that 51% of worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions can be attributed to animal agriculture. An Oxford University study also proves that the dietary emissions for meat-eaters are 50 to 54 percent higher than they are for vegetarians and 99 to 102 per cent higher than for vegans. Of course this hike won´t make you decide to become vegan, but it will prove to you that a nutritious vegan diet gives you all the calories you need to hike the third highest peak of Central America and a taste of how plant-based foods can be. Think about it, for a day, your dietary emissions could be cut in half! And trust me: those lentils we had for dinner were out of this world.

Single use plastic (SUPs), on the other hand, are used once or for a short period of time and thrown away and are more likely to end up in our seas than reusable options. Contributing to this type of use is directly damaging the environment and our health. Sometimes we forget or turn a blind eye, but you may easily see the crisis one you go for a walk on a beach or lake, visit a river or simply look at the streets in Guatemala (!) Let´s try to make this easier to understand:

While humans use about 1.2 million plastic bottles per recycled. Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year, averaging about 13 bottles for every person in the US, by using a reusable water bottle you could save an average of 156 plastic bottles annually. Which means Wicho & Charlie´s have saved around 4,212,000 plastic bottles since they minute, approximately 91% of plastic is not recycled. Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year, averaging about 13 bottles for every person in the US, by using a reusable water bottle you could save an average of 156 plastic bottles annually. Which means Wicho & Charlie´s have saved around 4,212,000 plastic bottles since they started the company! If that number doesn´t give you an idea of how committed this company is, I don´t know what will.

The last thing I would like to highlight is deforestation. In order to cook food on a volcano and to keep yourself warm, you need logs and the easiest way to get them is in the woods at Acatenango. Wicho & Charlie´s made a great work by using the minimum amount of logs they can. They have a gas stove at the campsite, in order to prepare food and heat water for artisanal chocolate for the night and coffee in the morning. They only use some logs for the fire pit, and make sure it´s a responsible amount. In environmental terms illegal logging is associated with deforestation, climate change and a loss of biodiversity. In Guatemala regulations are mostly ignored, and a lot of people get away with illegal logging, most of them don´t even care.

Altogether, Wicho & Charlie´s have great company values and prevent climate change as much as they can. Being such a responsible company sets a bar so high, non other tour company I´ve seen in Guatemala has been able to reach this standard. I just hope others start making better decisions and keep growing in a more environmentally friendly way. Companies that depend on natural resources to function should be more responsible and think twice about what they offer to the public. I learned so much during 28 hours. I feel forever changed and I am happy to have chosen a company that leads by example in a way that I´ve never experienced before in Guatemala. Way to go, Wicho & Charlie´s!

Ximena Garcia

Artivist