It’s Not Easy Being Green
June 15th, 2006 Posted in General, Long-term travel, Travel industryI’ve seen a half-dozen articles about ecotourism in the past few months. I’m guessing the newfound attention is due to the rise in fuel prices and more people waking up to global warming realities. All of them have at least hinted at the fact there’s no easy answer on determining which hotels, lodges, and tour companies are truly “green,” and which are just acting like it to win more business.
This “On EcoTourism” piece from Dan Oko, in May’s Budget Travel, sums up the issue succinctly and presses travelers to ask some tough questions instead of taking the ecotourism claims at face value.
Remember that being green often costs more, so you don’t see many true “green” lodging choices at the $5 a night level. There are exceptions in more isolated areas, however: the little tea house lodges in the Himilayas are often eco-friendly by necessity: solar hot water heaters, built from natural materials, and serving food made primarily from local ingredients. They compost because it would be idiotic not to.
On the other hand, many of the $1,000 a night “eco-friendly” hotels take great liberty with the term. Every right move they make in one area is often offset by a wrong one in another. (Building from ample local materials, for instance, but handing out plastic bottled water for excursions–and then burning them somewhere in the distance afterwards.)
If you’re concerned enough to explore the issue in depth, the best resource is Planeta.com.
