Camp Leaders and the environment

Camp Leaders is part of Smaller Earth. Since 1999, we’ve been built on a belief that cultural exchange makes the world better.

When people from different countries and backgrounds live and work alongside each other, they build friendships, understanding and respect that can last long after the summer ends. We believe those experiences have real value and should be open to as many people as possible, whatever their background.

Cultural exchange often involves air travel, and we take its environmental impact seriously. Our approach is to continue making cultural exchange possible while acting responsibly in the areas we can influence, both in how we run our business and how we encourage participants to travel.

The natural environment is central to the camp experience. The camps we work with are in rural locations, often surrounded by forests, lakes or mountains. Participants spend their summers helping children hike, canoe, camp and spend time outdoors, and many return home with a greater appreciation for the natural world and the importance of looking after it.

While our focus remains on cultural exchange, we aim to make thoughtful choices about our environmental impact wherever we reasonably can.

How we operate

• We consider environmental practices when choosing suppliers.
• We use recycled or sustainably sourced materials where possible for printed items and merchandise.
• We keep merchandise to fewer, better-quality items that people can keep and use, and avoid unnecessary single-use giveaways.
• We work to reduce waste in our offices, reuse equipment and materials before replacing them, and avoid unnecessary energy use.
• We use video calls when a meeting doesn’t need to take place in person.
• Where program requirements allow, much of our application process takes place online, reducing the need for printing, postage and unnecessary travel.
• Our teams work across a mixture of office, hybrid and remote arrangements, which can reduce commuting and the amount of office space and energy we use.
• We comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations in the countries where we operate.

How we support responsible travel

Our participants spend months living and travelling in new places, with many spending much of their summer outdoors at camp.

We encourage them to look after the places they visit by following Leave No Trace principles, respecting local communities and environments, using public transport where practical, and considering lower-impact options when travelling after their program.

We share practical guidance through our pre-departure information and other Camp Leaders channels.

Scope

This approach covers Camp Leaders, Smaller Earth and the offices and operations we manage directly.

We also encourage our partners and franchise offices to follow the same principles.

We review this approach periodically as our business, programs and understanding of our environmental impact develop.

Last reviewed: September 2026