posted by Catherine on Apr 30
There is so much ‘greenwash’ about these days - how can you be sure you are choosing the right one?
Just searching for ‘eco friendly beach resorts’ or eco friendly family vacations’ on the internet can bring you up websites and resorts that are clearly not eco holidays at all! They have just made sure that they use the ‘right’ words to get to the top of the search engines.
And even some websites that talk about eco lodges and responsible tourism might not actually have any proof of the ‘green ethics’ of the location. It may be as simple as that they have recycling bins, wash your sheets less and heat their water using solar power - which is no real struggle if they are based in the tropics anyway!
So, How Can You Tell?
Well, just as with other products available today including electrical appliances, safety gear and organic food - there are certification programs to prove a company’s eco credentials - and to check the properly based on non-flexible criteria.
Rather than somebody reading Eco Friendly Hotel A’s website and then saying - ‘Oh, it’s lovely. They take all your recycling away, cook only local food and have planted only native plants’, these certification bodies will actually go there and analyse those actions.
For example, they may say they separate all the recycling - but where do they send it and how? What if they send it all down to their local tip (which may be a ruined piece of forest) or they just burn it on a distant patch of wasteland?
Then the local food could be a problem. Are they growing crops that are ‘water demanding’ in a dry climate just to please the guests? Are they catching rare wildlife for the plate, or fishing unsustainably in a polluted or degraded river or lake? What species are they hunting and are they safe to eat?
By checking for these certifications you will make sure you get the real story.
Why Check For Certification?
Just as with membership to any exclusive club or society, association or certification with a well known responsible tourism or ecotourism body will allow your business to stand out from the crowd.
So, if a company, business, hotel or manufacturer can prove beyond a doubt that their products are certifiably eco friendly (having been tested by experts) then they know that they are among the best eco holidays out there - and have the backing of certification.
This obviously helps you as a consumer to choose the best holiday company or hotel based on your beliefs or desires. Rather than having to research every hotels website looking for eco friendly attributes - you could just look for the logo that represents what you are hoping to find from your holiday.
For example, 1 logo might mean that the hotel is ‘minimizing their impact on the local environment and protecting wildlife’ (Natures Best), whereas others might be looking at whether a hotel is trying to ’reduce waste, energy consumption, water and facilitate use of public transport (Green Tourism).
Some countries have their own eco labels, whereas other certifications are internationally recognised.
How Does Certification Help?
Well, apart from reducing your holiday search from ‘all the hotels in Argentina that use the word ‘eco holidays’ in their search engine ranking’ to ‘Eco Logo A registered eco hotels in Argentina’, it also means that you will not feel disappointed with your choice of trip upon arrival in terms of responsible or eco traits - but also that you know that you are spending your money on something that really is making a difference to the location and the people that you wish to visit on your trip.
And, if more and more people start to ask for, or search for, those resorts and eco lodges that have these certifications - then more companies will want to become certified to improve their own business.
And, if a company are claiming that they are eco friendly or are ‘one of the best eco lodges in so-and-so’, then why wouldn’t they want to prove that by getting certified? If they are doing all these things anyway - why not prove it?
Don’t be embarrassed to ask what their eco credentials are before booking. I mean if you were a vegan and saw a tasty cake for sale - wouldn’t you want to check that it was free from animal products before you ate it?
