Comments

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  Kat Morgenstern April 15, 2010 at 5:23pm

  Lise, I think that is a good idea - I have been thinking along similar lines, although it is very difficult to assess, a) what people say in a survey and what they actually do, and b) what in one country is part of the standard is a major innovation elsewhere. So, for example, in Germany recycling is mandatory, everybody does it. Hotels do it too - that does not make them especially green, though they would rate equally with a hotel in Central America where recycling is not a standard but this hotel makes every effort to get rid of its wastes ecologically but is thwarted by the country's facilities. (or lack of them) I try to talk to people about what they do and what their attitude is, what they consider especially important for their environment. I recently had an interesting chat about all this with a guy who is a tour operator in Argentina. Green tourism is unheard of in Argentina, you just don't find it. Yet, this person was making an effort to protect the environment he works in as best he could, because he realized that his effort mattered in making it sustainable - and support him and his family better than if he didn't give a toss. Often it is the infrastructure that makes the difference, rather than the individual operations. This is particularly important is wilderness areas that have not had much tourism and are being 'discovered'. Unless there are some forward thinking people involved who will spend time and money on developing an infrastructure that can cope with tourism, the place is likely to get trashed, even if all the operators are supposedly green. The impact on such an environment are much greater than in an area that is already developed and already has facilities in place to deal with trash, water, etc. And thus, operators in wilderness type places have a much greater responsibility towards the environment in which they operate.
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  Lise Tyrrell April 15, 2010 at 6:57am

  Kat, you brought up some great points. I run an ecotourism directory of lodges and have had the problem of trying to figure out whether a hotel is really sustainable. Green Globe charges a lot of money to lodges to be certified and the smaller lodges (those that really have the least impact) can't afford the fee.
  
  I've come up with an Eco Rating that I have lodges fill out so it gives me (and readers) a better idea of the things that they do. It's not perfect by any means but it's a start. Feel free to take a look here: Eco Rating. Suggestions are always welcome as to how to improve it.
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  tour-pakistan April 14, 2010 at 7:44pm

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  web: http://www.visitatp.com

  
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  Kat Morgenstern April 1, 2010 at 11:05am

  There are, several. Which makes it really confusing. Problem is, that certification is expensive, and very work intensive. Some small operators or hotels may not have the resources to put themselves through the process and so are automatically excluded. others find a way round certain regulations. Or may comply with some standards, but then do something else that is totally outrageous. Certification is not the answer. Same goes for other types of labels. Like the organic label in Britain for example, came under pressure for certifying Rosewood oil which comes from endangered trees. organic maybe, but not 'kosher' at all. Or at present, Greenpeace and RAN are under pressure for certifying wood under the FSC label which comes from first time cut old growth forest, which does not wash green at all with real environmentalists. So...as I said, who is watching the watchdogs?
  In tourism there are labels like Green Globe which is quite widespread, but you can't force everybody to sign up to the same scheme. So every country develops their own, and sometimes every region has their own. This makes sense to some degree because as I said, not the same criteria can be applied to operators and hotels the world over because the circumstances are so widely different and thus the facilities and infrastructure that makes it possible or impossible to comply. The important thing is to raise awareness and put pressure on governments to raise environmental standards that everybody has to comply with. That way standards are raised across the board. Being green is not a black and white issue ;-)
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  John Kipper March 31, 2010 at 10:24pm

  Hey, thank you all for the replies on what ecotourism means. I still think it would be great if there were an international certifying authority!
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  Kat Morgenstern March 28, 2010 at 10:38pm

  Actually the whole debate about standards and certification is a huge debate. Everybody realizes that it is good business to appear green, these days. What that actually means can be hugely different from one country to the next, depending on what sort of facilities are available. Some countries just have no facilities to recycle. The best practice is for the client to be responsible and take certain items, like plastics and spent batteries back home where they can be recycled properly. Small scale operations always have less of an impact than large operations, but then again, small groups are better than all private since resources such as transportation and fuel are shared. Involvement of local people is good, but better still if those local people are directly involved in the running of an operation and don't just work for some foreign operator. That does not always work - some people, especially tribal people have zero idea about the tourism industry and need training before they can take responsibility. Personally I donÄt think there is a hard and fast standard that can be applied to each and every situation everywhere. Each has to be evaluation in terms of its environment and what is actually possible. The green at heart will always find a way to make their operations as sustainable as possible because it is part of their nature, while those who do it for marketing purposes may comply to some degree, but also may try to find ways to cheat the system. Certification standards primarily act as marketing tools. Who is watching the watchdogs?
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  Paula Jean West March 28, 2010 at 9:43pm

  Bright green greetings to ALL-Do any of you know anything about the rating systems for eco-friendly or green hotels in the USA? (There seems to be a lot of info on everywhere but the USA.) I am headed to New England in May and I will be hitting all the states there looking for "sacred sites" from the pre-colonial times. (Think Mt. Katahdin in Maine and America’s Stonehenge in New Hampshire as examples.) I would like to evaluate green and eco-friendly hotels and dining in the New England area while I am out and add this into the overall report that I will be publishing on my column at Examiner.com on a daily basis while on the road. When I get back, I will be doing a feature on “Green New England” for magazine publication. I have one assignment from CIRCLE Magazine, but I want to go mainstream with this as well. I am in the process of putting together a book on the Sacred Sites of the USA and would like to do more wit green and eco-friendly travel. What recommendations do you have for eco-friendly places to stay in New England? Is there a rating system for hotels? Restaurants? Any guides already published which you could recommend? Thank you so much in advance if you have ideas. If you are a part of a hotel or site that would like to be evaluated, then also please let me know ASAP. I am preparing my May travel itinerary and it is starting to fill up already. You can email me privately at Branwenn@aol.com
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  Best Eco lodges March 26, 2010 at 4:21am

  Hi John,
  
  I can talk about what I know well: Eco friendly hotels. Since Green is the in thing nowadays, some hotels or tour operators used the word Eco without really caring and truly being green so I understand that it can be hard for the travelers to know what is truly eco friendly. That's the main reason I created my website: www.best-ecolodges.com .
  
  What you need to look for in a ecolodge or green hotel is the following:
  Is the hotel energy efficient ? example use of solar or wind power?
  Do they protect the environment – its flora, fauna and landscape?
  example Organic gardening practices? Recycle?
  Do they Conserve natural resources?
  example collect rain water and recycled water?
  Do they Support, respect and benefit local culture and economy?
  example, do they provide jobs to local or indigenous populations? Do they participate in ecological projects?
  
  And the list goes on, for more info look at http://www.best-ecolodges.com/about_us.htm
  
  They are some eco certifications out there but sadly I find they are often biased or "corrupted", some of them you just need to pay some money to get certified...
  
  I hope that helps!
  
  Btw: I also buy 100% recycled toilet paper, even small things can make a big difference in preserving our environment :-)
  
  Eve