Environmental policies

Mountaineers of Iceland operate mostly in the pristine nature of Iceland.

We care for and hold a deep respect for nature and the environment.

We are determined to preserve Iceland‘s precious nature and contribute to its protection and preservation.

Our focus

Our main emphasis is placed on absorbing CO2 in the form of reclamation and reforestation. Most of our operation takes place on Langjokull, where we operate Iceland‘s largest snowmobile fleet. It is a sad fact that global warming is melting away our glaciers and that in about 100 years or so, Langjokull glacier might disappear completely.

Therefore, we strive to support environmental projects and we have worked in close cooperation in the past with the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI). We are currently supporting a reforestation project in Bláskógabyggð, close to Mountaineers main area of operation.

Carbon Neutral

The company has already undergone the work of calculating CO2 emissions from its machinery and has in the past supported SCSI to undertake a reforestation project in Bláskógabyggð. This will help to carbon neutralize our emissions. SCSI has also provided extensive support in Mountaineers‘ work of calculating its CO2 emissions. With the help of SCSI, a specific geographical region and typical Icelandic wasteland has been marked within Bláskógabyggð that is most suitable for reforestation.

This project will make a significant positive environmental impact in the region, not only in absorbing CO2 but also in creating beautiful scenery. In this way, it is possible to carbon neutralize Mountaineers‘ emissions by planting enough vegetation and trees. These plants will absorb the CO2 and create a balance between our emissions and CO2 absorbing them. Once we reach our goal of carbon neutralizing our company, we will look into carbon neutralizing past emissions. Our goal is to be a leading example in the environmental sector and serve as role models for other travel companies.

Customer donations

Mountaineers have put in place a booking system where customers have the option of paying an extra 5 USD per person when booking tours with us. This extra fund will go undivided to supporting our environmental project: The reforestation project in Bláskógabyggð. We are aware of similar arrangements with other tour operators in Iceland that have had successful results.

Environmentally Friendly Electric Snowmobiles.

In recent years, there has been much advancement in the field of electric vehicles, with the development of electric snowmobiles being no exception.

It is our future goal to test drive these new snowmobiles and if they prove well in the Icelandic environment, to replace a part of our traditional fossil fuel snowmobile fleet with the new more environmentally friendly electric ones. It is clear that it is more rational to utilize our local clean and renewable energy instead of using polluting fossil fuels, transported across the world with associated expenses.

Recycling

We also focus on other areas of environmental protection. We have adopted a system where litter is sorted into metal, plastics, and glass for recycling. We also separate organic waste, as well as bottles and aluminum cans for recycling.

Vakinn Environmental Quality Standard

Our goal is to make dedicated efforts to protect and conserve the environment and contribute to sustainable tourism in Iceland. In order to achieve that goal, we will take into serious consideration the environmental guidelines raised by Vakinn, and the quality and environmental system for Icelandic tourism.