What does it mean to be a B Corp?

Recently we asked our staff what our B-Corp commitment means to them and whether we should continue with it as we enter our 6th year as a B-Corp and the imminent recertification that is due every 3 years. The answer was a resounding ‘yes!’. Our team enjoy working in a business that has positive impacts with our local community and environment, taking into consideration other factors than just making a profit each year.

For me, the B-Corp concept builds on older, existing traditions on business being used for good like Rotary International, with its phenomenal campaigns to wipe out Polio and help for overseas populations (amongst many things). B-Corp is a younger generations’ response to some of the perceived social and environmental injustices and challenges of our age and what part business can play as part of the solution, instead of ignoring or adding to the problems. It takes a more holistic approach and asks hard questions of a business to reflect upon all aspects of its operations, ownership, inclusion, and how its practices affect its staff, customers, local community and environment. Most times as business owners we are too busy with our operations to consider many of these questions in depth: being a B-Corp forces you to have a wider field of view and think more broadly.

Headlines of ever-rising inequality, astronomical corporate profits (and influence), and environmental degradation have led many people to perceive business as being at the heart of the problem and consequently to look at how businesses can act as a counter balance to these trends and also not be guilty of meaningless corporate spin and greenwashing. That is where the aspirations of the B-Corp movement come in, aligning businesses of all sizes from solo operators to giant multi-nationals to first of all get their own house in order and look at how they can positively contribute to tackling some of these challenges either at a local or international level. One business and one issue at a time, with the aim that the accumulative effect will be a very positive one for society.

What does B-Corp look like at RAW?

B-Corp at RAW Travel takes in many considerations. Internally there is the make up of our team, aiming for diversity, empowering female leadership, ultra flexible working practices that benefit parents especially, paying a living wage, profit sharing through bonuses, a monthly wellness subsidy, external training opportunities and paid volunteer days. Taking account for our energy usage and waste in the office to minimise what we can.

Looking further afield it is choosing local and grassroots suppliers for services wherever possible. That could mean a local printer or a small guesthouse in preference to a national chain, and buying our supplies at local shops near the trails we walk on guided trips.

This year we are continuing our commitment to supporting local charities The Women’s Spirit Project and FUSION, two local charities close to our offices and our hearts. Our work with The Women’s Spirit Project ties to our core activity of walking as we provide support for their annual ‘Frank to Schanck’ Charity Walk and we provide sponsorships to both them and FUSION whose work is centred on providing support and accommodation for local homeless youth.

Internationally, we are continuing our sponsorship of Cleanhub, which focuses on collecting plastic trash from waterways in Indonesia which would otherwise wash into the Oceans surrounding Australia. We also have a long-standing support of KIVA which allows our staff to each choose micro-credit loans to make in developing countries.

And we will continue with our local tree planting days working with Landcare and The Tree Project to plant native trees and restore wildlife corridors on local landholdings.

This year we will be forming a new B-Corp committee with view to further expand our ideas and commitments. Part of that will involve choosing new carbon offset programs to work with, aiming to deliver monetary support to worthwhile projects that have a proven effectiveness – something that is not easy in the carbon offset space given some of the information that has come to light in recent years about failed or ineffective schemes. We like to be practical and support people and projects that have tangible, proven outcomes rather than just supporting something that allows us to make claims about carbon neutrality. For us, the results are more important than the claim!

Ultimately we have to strike a balance between doing what we can to be a positive force but always making sure we are honouring our prime commitment to our customers to run the best possible trips that we can, and never losing sight of that priority as our guiding star.

Got questions?

If you have any comments or questions about why or what we are doing in the B Corp space, please feel free to contact us – we’d love to hear from you!