Destinations | Search | Best Practice | Partners | News | Contact Us

Select a destination:  Choose... Africa Arctic & Antarctic Asia Australia & S. Pacific Caribbean Central America Europe Far East Indian Subcontinent Mid East North America South America South East Asia  

Guidelines on Green Travel and Environmental Impact Policies

Many travellers and holidaymakers are ready to pay more or make specific arrangements for green travel and there are many travel companies claiming to offer environmentally friendly holidays. But how 'green' are the holidays they provide? Do the companies themselves operate in environmentally sustainable ways? And does it really cost more?

Unfortunately there is no single internationally accepted standard for green travel and tourism. There are over 300 independent schemes, most intended as a checklist for the travel industry, rather than an aid for travellers and holiday makers.

Many consider only specific issues such as carbon-offsetting or environmental sustainability so they don’t provide a complete rating.

The Greenstop.net classification provides a clear, easily understood indication of a company's commitment to green travel issues.

By reducing the impact of your business on the environment you can also reduce your costs, stay one step ahead of regulation, attract more clients and please your shareholders. If you are interested in becoming a Greenstop member or would like to know how we assess the number of "stops" to award companies, click here for information for:

Accommodation Providers
Travel and Tourism companies

• “E-Waste” and the hazards of blackberry culture - (01/09/2009)

As electronic technology advances at its rapid pace, many of the components that are used to put together each device are non-biodegradable. With so many computers, DVD players, VCRs and stereos being thrown away every day, dangerous materials such as lead and silicon circuit boards fill up our landfills and disposal sites, irreversibly damaging the eco-system. In addition, the pace at which electronic items are thrown away means that new items are manufactured just as fast, which uses up masses of energy and means that non-biodegradable materials keep being produced.

The mobile phone market is one of the areas where the consumption and production of electronic items is particularly rapid. Customers can now access an enormous range of features and services on their phones, especially blackberries. These features include picture messaging, games, music, pictures and video clips as well as internet access and television. But, with so many features on offer comes an increase in consumption levels. Many of us want to keep up with trends, worried about becoming a social dinosaur. So we strive to make sure we have the most recent blackberry, with the most impressive features. The old phone is discarded, and the e-waste piles up.

Encouragingly, many mobile phone companies like Vodafone have developed a handful of policies that are designed to encourage consumers to recycle their phones and keep the ones that they have for longer. As part of a program called “mobile take-back,” Vodafone collects old mobile phones as well as accessories such as batteries, chargers and headsets, and then refurbishes them for re-use or breaks them down into component parts for recycling. Doing this not only helps to reduce waste. It also greatly limits the energy required in extracting raw materials like precious metals.

In addition to promoting recycling, many of Vodafone’s local operating companies offer incentives to encourage consumers to keep their phones for longer. For example, Vodafone have a SIM only tariff that offers reduced monthly subscriptions for those customers who wish to keep their existing phone, rather than immediately turning to an upgrade. Check out the details of their website to get an idea of the range of models on offer, in particular details of their blackberry, a phone that can go a long way in a modern world.

Remembering the environmental consequences of throwing away a slightly less than up-to-date blackberry is more important now than ever. Either recycling or keeping your existing phone can massively improve the health of our natural environment.

• Environmental guidelines - (01/05/2007)

Click here to download a Powerpoint Presentation, 15 Steps to an Environmental Management Policy , which will help you on your way and you could also Click here for a general overview, which may be of interest to your management teams.

Click to visit our news archive.

There are many companies offering environmental certification and they use different criteria. Thanks to its unique Greenstop classification, anyone visiting the Greenstop Destinations Directory can identify hotels, conference venues, holiday and travel companies that are making a genuine effort to work in an environmentally responsible manner.

• 3 "stops" () have achieved environmental excellence through certification, awards or development of their own stringent policies
• 2 "stop" () companies are deeply committed to environmentally responsible management with environmental management policies and active programmes
• 1 "stop" () organisations are working in an environmentally friendly way on at least some level(s).

If you want to be included in the Directory, wish to receive further information or have details you would like us to include, please click here.

Companies qualifying for a Greenstop.Net listing will receive an e-classification on registration, which they will be able to paste on their own website and use in their own marketing. Click on the example to see how this will look.

Greenstop Classification: Visit the Greenstop Destinations Directory.