Frequently Asked Questions:
Who is Alastair Sawday?back to top
A pioneer in the environmental world, Alastair Sawday is the founder of the first carbon-neutral publishing company, planting trees to compensate for air travel, promoting environmental awareness and sustainable living. He has contributed to The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Times, Daily Mail, Observer Food Monthly and many magazines. He has appeared on both Open Country and the Today programme on Radio 4 and No Going Back on Channel 4.
But what did Alastair do before he started his publishing company?back to top
Alastair has had a remarkably miscellaneous and varied career, which has taken him to the most far-flung corners of the globe: he headed up a VSO programme in Papua New Guinea, worked in St Lucia, ran a disaster relief team for Oxfam in Turkey, has taught French and has run a small travel company, conducting walking tours throughout Europe.
He ran as parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in 1992, and was vice-chair of the Soil Association. He was the founder, Chairman and Director of Avon Friends of the Earth.
So how come he started publishing accommodation guides?back to top
He was inspired to publish his first travel guide, French Bed & Breakfast, after discovering various ’special’ B&Bs and the extraordinary people that run them while taking groups around France on walking tours. He wanted to highlight places that were a world away from the impersonal, robotic nature of the large hotel corporations. The books were lapped up - the initial 10,000 copies sold out within six months - and so, in 1994, Alastair Sawday Publishing was born. It seemed to touch a raw nerve with thousands of readers; they obviously want to stay in special places rather than the dull corporate monstrosities that have disfigured so many of our cities and towns.
What do you mean by special places?back to top
The notion of ’special’ is at the heart of what we do, and highly subjective. We take huge pleasure from finding people and places that do their own thing - brilliantly, places that are unusual and follow no trends, places of peace and beauty, people who are kind and interesting - and genuine. Life is too short to be wasted in the wrong places. A night in a special place can be a transforming experience.
Does Alastair inspect them all?back to top
Not any more as we now have around 5000 places and he simply can’t get round them all on a bicycle. We have trusty inspectors in different countries.
So does Alastair have a favourite special place?back to top
Many - to discover the current favourite,
How many staff work at ASP?back to top
30 staff work on 20 titles in the Special Places to Stay series working from converted eco-barns in Long Ashton just outside Bristol. We also have editors and staff working from their homes in Cornwall, Kent, Paris and London.
What are your eco-offices like?back to top
We moved into our new offices at the beginning of 2006. By super-insulating, installing under-floor heating, a wood-pellet boiler, solar panels and a rainwater tank, we have a working environment benign to ourselves and to the environment. Lighting is low-energy, dark corners are lit by sun-pipes and one building is of green oak. Carpet tiles are leased: some of recycled material, most of wool and some of natural fibres.
These and various other measures have enabled us to reduce our carbon emissions from 26 tonnes a year to just seven.
Do you have specific environmental and ethical policies?back to top
Our company cars run on gas or recycled cooking oil; kitchen waste is composted and other waste recycled; cycling and car-sharing are encouraged; the company only buys organic or local food; we don’t accept web links with companies we consider un-ethical; we use the ethical Triodos Bank, for our deposit account.
We have used recycled paper for some books but have settled on selecting paper and printer for their low energy use. Our printer is British and ISO14001-certified and together we will reduce our environmental impact. Our flagship gesture, however, is carbon offsetting; we calculate our carbon emissions and plant trees to compensate - however inadequately. We support projects overseas that plant trees or reduce carbon use; our money works better by going direct to projects.
Have you won any awards?back to top
Last year we were delighted to be given a Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development. We also won a Business Commitment to the Environment Award both of which have boosted our resolve to stick to our own green policies.
How come you promote travel if you’re so ‘green’?back to top
It is a dilemma. We are proud of the books that we have created - they promote authenticity, individuality, high quality, local and organic food - far from the now-dominant corporate culture. Rural economies, pubs, small farms, villages and hamlets all benefit. However, people use fossil fuel to get there. Should we aim to get our readers to offset their own carbon emissions, and the B&B and hotel owners too? That might have been a hopeless task a year or so ago, but less so now that the media has taken on board the enormity of the work ahead of us all.
We are slowly introducing green ideas into the books: the Fine Breakfast Scheme for local and organic food; celebrating owners who make an extra effort; gently encouraging the use of public transport. Last year we published a book focusing on responsible travel and eco-projects around the globe, Green Places to Stay and we have plans for a new series of guides celebrating ‘Slow’ travel and accommodation.
What is the Fragile Earth series?back to top
The ‘hard’ side of our environmental publishing is the Fragile Earth series: the Little Earth Book, Little Food Book and Little Money Book. They have been a great success. They consist of bite-sized essays, polemical and hard-hitting but well researched and methodical. They are a ‘must have’ for people from all walks of life - anyone who is confused and needs clarity about some of the key issues of our time.