Protecting the earth is the issue on every self-respecting traveller’s mind right now. But how can you tell which hotels are truly eco-friendly? Phoenix Arrien sorts the wood from the trees.
Gleaming hotel lobbies, dinky shampoo bottles, Croatian caviar and Argentinean beef dishes have all been part of the luxury accommodation experience for years.
However, profound change – and the accompanying confusion and controversy – is sweeping the travel industry as increasingly polluted environments, plus destruction by climate change, affect our lives.
Transportation and the impact we make at our destinations have emerged as this decade’s most important travel considerations.
The dilemma is that many of the products, services and facilities of luxury hotels and resorts are manufactured, transported and created with pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The surprise is, not that there are solutions, but that more accommodation providers haven’t implemented them, especially as sustainability often translates into long-term economic savings and increases customer appeal.
Eco-pioneers
Accor Hotels manage 4500 properties including six in Dubai. Global initiatives leading to ISO 14001 Certification include solar panels, shower timers, tree planting, effluent irrigation systems, running vehicles on renewable energy sources, worm farms and water reduction. Some of their hotels have also improved ventilation, used natural fibres, with kept glue and PVC to a minimum.
Another outright leader in this field is the smaller Banyan Tree Hotel group which operate 23 resorts and 64 spas in over 20 countries, including the Middle East.
Their green initiatives include rehabilitating toxic wasteland, using existing village farmhouses, setting up indigenous craft galleries and a marine research lab to protect ocean animals.
Various properties follow waste management programs, use recycled wastewater for landscaping and non-chlorinated water in swimming pools.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts also lead sustainability. The Fairmont Dubai hotel conserves water via flow restrictors, the kitchens endorse environmentally sound suppliers and products, an onsite treatment plant converts waste into water and excess lighting has been cut.
Last year over 50 Fairmont staff collected rubbish strewn across the desert in support of the third annual ‘Clean Up UAE’ event, held in all seven emirates. It is estimated that Dubai residents throw away more than a tonne of waste annually, one of the highest per capita in the world.
The challenges
Of course, there is resistance to change. One hotel chain states: “It’s important to remember that… guests have certain expectations… (for example) bathroom amenities have to be individually packaged and presented, whereas the idea of a ‘dispenser’… while perhaps more efficient and use fewer resources, wouldn’t fit the luxury expectation of today.”
However, hotels such as The Banyan Tree challenge this indifference, by using refillable containers made from celadon or ceramic and contain non-toxic and biodegradable shampoo, conditioner, bath gel and body lotion – even attracting positive guest feedback.
Sustainability is not always easy. One of Accor’s newest and greenest buildings is the Olympic Park Sydney in Australia.
The restaurant is built with recycled timber, the carpets are natural fibre, hot water is solar powered, windows open as an alternative to airconditioning, soap is from bathroom dispensers, vehicles run on renewable energy, a worm farm converts food scraps and it operates comprehensive waste reduction and recycling programs.
Accor admits that: “The building of (this hotel)… caused some difficulties in construction and undoubtedly increased the cost, but the extra outlays were in areas like energy conservation, waste minimisation and recycling, all of which have produced long-term and sustainable cost savings.”
Beware green cowboys
Most hotels want to appear green – it is, after all, appealing. This led has to the emergence of ‘greenwashers’ – operators who attempt to look ‘green’ but are actually telling outright lies or using distractions.
While this is not new – ‘washing’ has been used in advertising and packaging for years – it poses a problem for travelers and a real threat to sustainable accommodation. Greenwashing is confusing and creates stirs up mistrust in the entire travel industry, ironically damaging the very market it seeks to exploit.And another term – ‘greenfiddling’ – sits barely above greenwashing. It describes operators who are implementing a couple of easy changes but not taking sustainability seriously.
This may include just popping a ‘towel usage card’ in the hotel’s bathroom (‘hang up towels if you don’t want them, leave them on the floor if you do’); empty boasting that they are a ‘green’ hotel, or just offering carbon-offsets, which is simply one tool, and not a prevention or answer to sustainability.
The good news is that it is easy enough to discover who really is ‘green’ and who is trying to mislead you. First, make informed choices: search the web and guidebooks, or ask travel agents or corporate travel managers to book sustainable accommodation.
What’s more, ask your hotel questions about their environmental practices. For example: Do they have water saving measures such as grey water systems, rainwater tanks, water-saving showerheads? Does their accommodation run on energy saving and renewable energy power sources? Do they recycle rubbish and compost food waste? Do they use biodegradable and phosphate-free cleaning products and bathroom liquids?
If the hotels sound vague or try to get on to another topic then they are probably greenwashing. If they point to a ‘towel card’ program but nothing else, they could be green fiddling. If they give you a clear list of sustainable initiatives then it may be time to book.
When people say ‘no’ to unsustainable accommodation, it sends a powerful message and real change occurs.
Market forces
Sustainable accommodation is only one part of ‘ecotourism’ umbrella. The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as ‘Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people’.
Since 1990, ecotourism has grown between 20 and 34 percent worldwide. But aside from greenwashing and greenfiddling, good intentions from nature-loving visitors and operators can unintentionally reek havoc in fragile habitats.
As the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) estimates: “Most of tourism’s expansion is occurring in and around the world’s remaining natural areas.”
While the bulk of the world’s hotel accommodation clearly has a long way to go before it can label itself ttruly green, to achieve longevity within an increasing green-savvy travel market, they have no choice but to take the wider environment into account.
In time, the luxury resorts that will win out are the hotels with lobbies that gleam through the use of non-toxic products instead of chemical-ridden sprays; with bathrooms that house organic shampoos and bath gels that flow diligently from refillable dispensers; with restaurants that serve local produce transported by sustainable fuel. And all the earth can do is wait.
Perhaps not. But a few operators offer something that comes very close. Mountain Extreme, which takes groups hiking, biking and climbing into the rocky terrain of UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah is one such firm.
Small groups of ten hike old trails laid out by the Shihu tribe, stay in stone houses in deserted Shihu settlements reached on foot from the wadi. Their philosophy ‘LNT’ (leave no trace) extends to careful waste disposal, not wandering off the beaten track and minimal disturbance to wildlife.
Solar panels meet lighting needs, gas cylinders and water are carried up on donkeys while an ancient covered pool collects natural runoff to irrigate indigenous trees. Mud plastered on the rooftops provides insulation and the wooden ceilings uses FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) wood. The local community receives money through the house rents and some are trained as tour guides.
Depending on where their food is sourced and how items are packaged, this gets close to an impressive sustainable operation.
Accreditation schemes
ISO14001 certification is a key accreditation for environment standards. A voluntary standard established by the International Organization for Standardisation whose aim is to support environmental protection and the prevention of pollution in balance with socio-economic needs. Certification is carried out by other independent groups under their own responsibility and independently of ISO.
Green Globe provides organisational frameworks and benchmarks set up by the World Tourism Council, based on 21 principles of sustainable development.
Forest Stewardship Council is a certification system for improved forest management worldwide. The wood must be harvested legally and managed according to internationally agreed social and environmental criteria.
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