Sierra Gorda de Querétaro Ecological Reserve 

The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve is an extraordinary testimony to the commitment of civil society and local communities to join forces and protect Mexico’s most eco-diverse natural area.

But much remains to be done. Many ecosystems that are home to Mexico’s most endangered species, such as the puma, margay and jaguar, remain at risk. In addition, the families of the Sierra Gorda, though industrious and enterprising, remain among the poorest in Mexico, lacking access to essential services. They, and generations to come, deserve the opportunity to create sustainable livelihoods while protecting their valuable natural resources.

Rutopia is a member of Sierra Gorda through an annual donation to help protect this exceptional region and its inhabitants.

Cascadas Encantadas Ecotourism Center, Benito Juárez, Catemaco. Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz.

At a site owned by the Cascadas Encantadas Ecotourism Center in Benito Juarez, we joined Henry Otapia to participate in their reforestation program. We did our bit by planting some trees with them, and naming and dating some of the trees to keep track of their evolution.

We are currently offering this experience to our clients. It is very enriching, we highly recommend it!

Estampa Verde. Rancho Los Amigos, Laguna de Sontecomapan, Catemaco. Los Tuxtlas. Veracruz.

Estampa Verde is an NGO created by Rancho Los Amigos to carry out development projects. Estampa Verde’s multidisciplinary educational proposal addresses different needs for the protection and restoration of the ecological balance while stimulating the development of skills and knowledge for resilience. In the Environmental Education program, different ways of approaching the habitat of certain animals and learning to interact with agroecosystems in a holistic manner are designed. The reading of the landscape is accompanied by different tools for analysis and diagnosis and the culture of open knowledge is promoted, facilitating interaction and action in networks and alliances.

Through our travel experience “Regeneration and Harvest in Los Tuxtlas”, we will begin to contribute 10% of the income received to Estampa Verde. In addition, Rutopía has signed an agreement with Estampa Verde through which a monthly donation is made

Hotel Taselotzin, Cuetzalan. Puebla. 

Masehual Siuamej Mosenyolchicauani is a cooperative of 100 indigenous Nahua women from 6 communities in the municipality of Cuetzalan. They started in 1985 with the purpose of selling their handicrafts at fair prices, to improve their quality of life by generating employment for their families and thus prevent their people from migrating to the city and the USA. They created a beautiful hotel in Cuetzalan, called Taselotzin. These brave women, trained in better weaving techniques, and with the help of advisors, about their rights as indigenous women, learning to revalue their customs and practices as indigenous people and the way they see the world, the respect for mother earth, the pride of being part of their Nahua people. They have also been trained in different workshops, developing some economic and educational projects on the care of nature, health and sustainable development.

At Rutopía we didn’t want to be left behind, and we have contributed a little bit to this valuable initiative. We visited Taselotzin’s facilities to give a workshop on ecological cleaning products based on natural raw materials, easily accessible and economical while protecting the environment. We also gave them training in the use of Facebook and opinion portals such as TripAdvisor!

Talks at universities. 

In order to raise awareness among young people about sustainable ways of traveling, and to learn more about the concept of responsible tourism, its trends, its different forms, and its importance, the Rutopía team travels to different universities to give talks on the subject. We enjoy this experience and the students participate a lot!

Ecological workshops in schools and institutes.

Recently, part of the Rutopia team went to the Cisneros Institute in Cholula de Rivadavia, Puebla, to talk to high school students about the impacts of waste in the daily lives of humans, animals and the environment in general. We talked about the terms: reduce, reuse and recycle, and held a workshop to create bracelets with reused plastic bottles. We will continue to put this beautiful task into practice for different schools and institutes on a regular basis.

Capsules in radio programs. 

In November 2015 we participated in Radio en Redes to talk about the World Day of Responsible Tourism, where we talked about the term “responsible tourism”, the importance of the celebration of this day, and how to travel more sustainably. Now we resume this exercise in January 2017 participating in a capsule of the radio program Tribuna, with Ana Montero, to talk about sustainable tourism. What does it mean and entails the practice of sustainable tourism in Mexico? What does this concept mean? What are its objectives and how can we practice it? It is part of Rutopía’s mission to offer education for sustainability and to be agents of change.

Use of ECOSIA search engine. 

Ecosia is an Internet search engine that works with the Bing search engine. Its slogan is to donate 80% of its advertising revenue to a Tree Planting Program in Africa. Its current beneficiary, The Nature Conservancy, manages the www.plantabillion.org program, a reforestation campaign in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest that aims to plant one billion trees by 2025.

At Rutopia we work with the Ecosia search engine and the LILO search engine (see below) to participate in this cause.

Use of LILO search engine. 

LILO is a search engine that donates more than 50% of its advertising revenue to social and environmental projects of the user’s choice. Each search performed with Lilo allows the user to earn a drop of water and the user chooses to which project to donate these drops of water. Part of this 50% goes to offset carbon emissions. They have already supported projects such as: Huertos Compartidos, Oasis de Colibris, Unidos, NSF-BCN comparteix el menjar, Obsidiana TV, Adrisud Internacional, Leka, Refugio La Candela, Som Energía and many others.

At Rutopia we work with the LILO search engine and the Ecosia search engine (see above) to participate in different causes.

Interjet. 

Interjet was the first airline in Latin America to operate a flight with Biodiesel in April 2011, called ECOJET. Bioturbosine was produced from Jatropha vegetable oil grown by Mexican producers in the State of Chiapas, Mexico, which generates sources of employment and various environmental benefits.

In addition, it joined Huella Azul, in which it encourages its passengers to donate $10 pesos per person to invest in innovative forestry practices in Mexico, thus contributing to mitigating the carbon emissions that are an unavoidable aspect of our way of life and balancing the impact on the environment. It also directly supports rural communities so they can thrive.

Rutopía, whenever it has the opportunity to book internal flights, purchases them with Interjet (or Volaris, depending on the routes operated by each airline), to cooperate with the “Huella Azul” program.

Volaris.

Volaris is the first airline to sign an agreement with the Mexican Carbon Platform for the purchase of carbon credits as part of its strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and reaffirm its commitment to environmental care with the “Cielito Lindo” campaign. This campaign includes initiatives and programs designed to offset its environmental footprint and contribute to actions against global warming, including the reduction of electricity consumption and waste recycling at its corporate offices and the reduction of atmospheric gas emissions in the dispatch of aircraft.

Rutopía, whenever it has the opportunity to book domestic flights, purchases them with Volaris (or Interjet, depending on the routes operated by each airline), and makes a contribution to the “Por un Cielito Limpio” program.