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Last year Go Ape decided to move to a paperless waiver system. In the past, we generated over half a million pieces of paper annually in waivers alone. That is 500 reams of paper adding up to a whopping 6,000 pounds, or two Volkswagen Beetles! This was an area that not only seemed wasteful; it went against one of our core values – be socially and environmentally responsible.

When we moved our warehouse, we put well over a hundred boxes of paper into storage. As a member of the team that helped move these heavy boxes, I realized how our paper use could make a significant bearing on the environment. Like any business, we generate paper, and it has a material impact on our world.

Since producing this much paper does not jive with our values, we knew we had to do something to change.

We had already been experimenting with electronic waivers at one of our locations, and due to the efficiency and feasibility, we felt it was something we could do across all locations, and we would be helping the environment to boot! This is a true win-win solution.

Now keep in mind, we have 16 locations spread over 14 states, and each has some unique rules surrounding waivers. For instance, did you know you need to be 19 to be an adult in Nebraska? Other locations have different requirements regarding the number of adults required to supervise kids. These unique requirements created a challenge for our team to identify a solution that would work everywhere.

In comes The Flybook.

We were fortunate to have partnered up with this team as they helped us navigate not only the implementation of a paperless waiver system but a whole new booking system. Now when you add, remove, or otherwise update your adventure, we don’t need to print out or delete your previous waivers. More paper saved. BONUS!

We took this opportunity to look at other ways to lessen our paper waste, and as an additional benefit, we now email out tickets, gift cards, and rainchecks electronically. Keep this in mind when thinking about a gift for a friend or family member, not only can you give the gift of adventure, you can be socially conscious as well.

To those of you that have booked on to one of our adventures, you will have had the opportunity to sign one of these electronic waivers and helped us reduce this tree-mendous paper use.

We thank you for your support as we make this change.

As a national outdoor adventure company, and one that relies explicitly on the trees, reducing our paper consumption was not just the right thing to do, it was logical – we may need those trees to build our next adventure!