It’s hard to miss Pink Jeep Tours, with their unique paint jobs and wind-blown tourists. They have been providing guided tours for over 60 years in Sedona. But you might not know that PINK is green! Their business model reduces traffic impacts on our forest trails by controlling where people go and educating customers about Leave No Trace practices.

They help mitigate damage to the trails from commercial and private vehicles through a cooperative relationship with the U.S. Forest Service. Pink Jeep Tours is solely responsible for maintaining the popular Broken Arrow trail. Using rock plating, fill dirt from the Forest Service, water bars, and natural vegetation, they maintain the trail for their use and other recreational vehicles. They also provide site host coverage year-round at the Honanki Cliff Dwelling to prevent vandalism and educate visitors on site preservation. Additionally, they provide a complementary tour to Honanki for elementary children in Sedona and the Verde Valley to teach children about archaeology and ecology.

In 2019, Pink Jeep and their parent company, Herschend Family Enterprises, launched a formal sustainability task force, in part because they recognized that climate change could significantly affect their business. Last year, an unprecedented snowstorm caused traffic gridlock in town, and this summer they worry about the opposite problem – drought and wildfires.

Sustainability representative Becca Daltroff says, “Every guide is a pair of eyes for the Forest Service. We often see neglected campfires and will report them. We carry a fire extinguisher in every vehicle and have used them on occasion to prevent forest fires.”

The pink Jeeps still run on gasoline—there aren’t many electric options yet—but they try to minimize their impact on the environment. Jeeps are inspected daily prior to tours to catch any safety issues or fluid leaks. The vehicles undergo an extensive preventive maintenance every month using pressurized air and water-based (not petroleum-based) cleaners. Vinegar is used to clean seats and windows. Old Jeeps become stationary advertisements, perched on rocks at hotels. They even make vans and drivers available for special events like the Sedona Police Explorers program competition in Mesa, and the Sedona International Film Festival.

Oil and grease can contaminate the environment, so they send shop rags, towels, and uniforms to a green linen service, Prudential Overall Supply, that captures grease and other contaminants before they cause damage to the environment. The Pink Jeep Service Center also captures and recycles all fluids; the coolant goes to Industrial Recycling Solutions; and oil and other fluids go to Mesa Environmental Services. Vehicle wash water is filtered through a mud separator before going into the sewer system.

Through their sustainability efforts, Pink Jeep has eliminated single-use water bottles on their van tours, which will avoid 22,000 plastic bottles in the waste stream per year. They encourage guests to bring their own reusable bottle and have branded reusable bottles for guests who forget to bring one. Water refill stations are placed throughout the Pink Jeep Plaza for guests on Jeep tours, resulting in a reduction of another 30,000 water bottles each year. Employees do their part by bringing their own reusable water bottles and volunteering for litter lifting on the forest roads, Dry Creek Road, and at the Grand Canyon on a regular basis.

They take good care of their employees with a fair wage, healthcare benefits, paid vacations, and other perks. Employees can also choose to contribute to a hardship fund called “Share It Forward” which gives grants to employees in need. Family leave is provided once an employee is eligible.

New guides complete a thorough six-week training program: “All of our guides are extensively trained in the flora, fauna, geology and history of the area,” says Daltroff. “They are CPR certified, Smith System Driver Safety trained, and First Aid certified. Most of our guides are also Certified Interpretive Guides!”  “Our guides have a great passion for the outdoors and tend to be hikers, mountain bikers, and nature enthusiasts. They love the land and feel privileged to show people the beauty of Sedona, stewardship is at their core,” says Donna Helfrich, General Manager.  See who else is certified.

---