Sustainability

Venetaxi.com is commited to endorse sustainability in all its functions. We have been certified by the Good Travel Program with an audit score of 3 stars of 3 possible in June, 2022.

You can see our GTS Certificate by clicking on the button below.

Our Commitments

We have several commitments to guide us towards a more sustainable service. We strive to be excellent in sustainability and take great pride in the efforts we already have done for a more sustainable and just service. Below you can get acquainted with our current commitments and our Sustainability Program.

Venetaxi.com is commited to the Glasgow Declaration Climate Action in Tourism.

As a one of the 60 Finnish signatories of the Glasgow Declaration, we are commited to halve our carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.

In fact, Venetaxi.com already fulfills both commitments to full extent in 2022, but we nevertheless strive to make an even bigger positive impact in the future.

We co-operate locally in creating carbon sinks. Since we truly believe that a clean conscience should not only be purchased, we want to make a positive impact in our area of operation. Therefore we invest in carbon sinks in Finland, rather than funding shady climate compensation businesses on the other side of the globe. Our partner in Finland for us to reach and maintain carbon neutrality is Ilmastoapu Oy.

We are also commited to the Good Travel Seal programme and its demands in sustainability. We are currently being audited for the qualifications to the Good Travel Seal.

We are commited to follow the guidelines of Business Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland programme and are in the process of applying for the qualification. As of June 2022, we already fulfill 6/7 of the demands and are awaiting auditing for the final task. In our self-assessment we scored a rather impressive 431 points of a maximum total of 495. It is worth noting that zero scores are noted for instance for services that we do not provide, such as water saving showers and toilets, or less frequent changing off bed-linen. In the areas that actually are within our spectrum of services we hit high scores in all categories.

We are also commited to keeping our local community thriving. When we buy, we buy local and when we employ, we employ locally. We strive to keep the majority of our services completely local and take great pride in showcasing both the local crafts and skills and the beautiful nature of our area of operations.

We proudly endorse among others these local services:

  • Jonas Boat – Boat Dock at Bodö island, Porvoo
  • På Krogen – Restaurant and event venue in Kalkkiranta, Sipoo
  • Winberg & Winberg – Archipelago gasoline station, café and shop
  • Shop Boat m/s Christina – The oldest and last remaining floating grocery store in Finland
  • Seasong – Sipoo’s only island-based hotel, restaurant and summer café at Norrkullalandet island
  • Visit Sipoo – Municipality of Sipoo’s tourism services
  • Visit Porvoo – City of Porvoo’s toursim services

Our Sustainability Program

Below you can see a short description of our Sustainability Program. If you want to read our entire Sustainability Program for 2022, you can download it in pdf format through the link below:

Our Sustainability Program includes sustainability in the following categories:

  1. Socio-cultural sustainability
  2. Ecological sustainability
  3. Economical sustainability

Below is a short presentation of our sustainability plan. We are currently being audited for the Sustainable Travel Finland seal by Business Finland and the Good Travel Seal certificate.

Socio-cultural sustainability

Our area of function is not only a beautiful surrounding, it is also the home of many inhabitants. We strive to respect the privacy of the archipelago inhabitants and refrain from disturbing the serenity of the archipelago and the sea. When we choose our partners, we prefer to go local, even when it is not the most cost effective solution.

Everyone is welcome onboard our M/B LauluVene. We do not discriminate anyone. As we unfortunately can not provide accessible services, we strive to be clear about this in our marketing. We constantly work to find ways to be more inclusive.

Venetaxi.com welcomes travellers of all sexual, gender, religious, ethnic and other minorities. We are happy to provide services for people with disadvantages/disabilities and are sorry that full accessibility due to the nature of our operations unfortunately can not be provided.

In our choice of partners, we only endorse service providers that follow the same ethical principles as we do.
For this reason, we do not buy any products or services from Russian owned/operated companies, including fuels.

However, Russian and Russian speaking customers are always welcome to use our services (with the exeption of persons placed under European Union enforced sanctions).

Ecological sustainability

Although we due to necessity are forced to use fossil carburants in our vessel, we do our best in minimizing the impact of this. We use the following methods to minimize our carbon footprint:

  • Maintenance is done regularily and thoroughly to ensure clean burning process in the engine
  • We use high octane fuel to ensure best possible power ratio in comparison with the amount fuel used
  • Non-carburant fluids used are whenever possible chosen from non-fossil sources even when they are more expensive
  • We try to avoid unecessary idle use of the engine as well as cold starting whenever avoidable
  • We plan our routes to be as fuel saving as possible without diminishing the importance of the experience of travelling
  • All our equipment is subject to lifespan planning and used to the end of the life cycle – we don’t buy new equipment before we have gained maximum benefit from already existing equipment and ensured full life cycle operation without safety risks due to wear
  • All trash is sorted before discarding and we choose mainly compostable materials whenever possible
  • Complimentary water bottles to customers are made of recycled plastic, are carbon compensated and get recycled after use
  • We compensate our emissions to full extent (see below)

100 % Venetaxi.com – 100 % Enjoyable – 100 % Carbon Neutral

We compensate our emissions by planting carbon sinks in Finland in cooperation with Ilmastoapu Oy.

Instead of buying emission vouchers, we have chosen a very practical way of compensating: planting trees. Ilmastoapu plants pine trees in disused peat marshes as long-term carbon sinks. In addition to planting trees, Ilmastoapu also commits to sustainable forestry in the planted areas. All carbon sinks are founded in mainland Finland. Therefore, we create the carbon sink in the area where the emissions are born and endorse compensation based local carbon neutrality to its fullest possible extent.

Our carbon emissions are calculated in accordance with Point AB’s report from 2021 to the Swedish Transport Authority (Transportstyrelsen) about emissions of motor boats in Sweden, because to date it is the only investigation carried out in the Nordic countries. Both our nature and our conditions differ from for instance Mid- or South European areas, therefore it is important to use as local a study as possible. Our boat’s figures are calculated based on values presented in the report ”Kartläggning av avgasutsläpp från svenska fritidsbåtar” (”Investigation of emissions from Swedish hobby boats”; report unfortunately available only in Swedish).

According to the figures presented in the report, M/B LauluVene’s approximate emissions are as follow.


Emission and compensation calculation for M/B LauluVene

Fuel consumption ~ 12 l / h *
CO2 emissions ~ 34,2 g / h **

Approximate operating hours (May – September): 170 h
Compensation needed 170 x 0,0342 = 5,814 tn
Carbon Compensated 6 tn ***

* Average consumption over time
***As of 28 April 2022

Notice: Carbon Compensation is conducted twice a year. Before the start of the season a compensation is made based on an estimate of operating hours. During the season all operational hours are noted in the vessel’s log. A second completing compensation is made at the end of the season, after the boat’s retreat for winter storage and maintenance. The total amount of compensation is rounded to the next half a metric tonne (0,5 tn).

** Source for calculations:
Lagerqvist, Svensson & Löfvenberg. (2021). Kartläggning av avgasutsläpp från svenska fritidsbåtar. Point AB by commission of the Swedish Transport Authority. Published: 2021-01-21. [Accessed: 2022-04-28]


Economical sustainability

We maximize the profit from our assets. We do not buy any new possessions except when it is necessary. Our budget is well planned and cost effectivity is a key virtue for all our functions. We strive to be profitable, but not at any cost. Our most important resource is people and we take care of our co-workers, both long-term and part-time employees. We do not employ new staff unless there is a well-meditated decision behind the process.

We do however provide the possibility for non-skilled people to participate in internships and learning-by-doing projects. However, everyone who works for us or with us will be compensated.

Want more information?

If You wish to know more about our sustainability program, please contact Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Kristian Meurman for additional info:

info@venetaxi.com