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Eco-Travel Toolkit
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Now that green is hip and cool, eco-friendly travel has appropriately transformed itself from hippy yurt farms to eco-luxury resorts that help save the planet while also coddling guests with comfort and style. But that's not all. Sustainable travel now encompasses the entire travel industry. This is hardly a surprise; those that express an interest in seeing the greater world, tend to also possess the desire to help protect it.
One of the better resources I've come across recently to help conscientious travelers seek out the greenest and healthiest travel alternatives is the Eco-Travel Toolkit published in Plenty Magazine (tagline: It's easy being green).
The Eco-Travel Toolkit breaks green travel down into six categories; Where to Stay, Green Getaways, Up & Coming Destinations, Where NOT to Go, Getting There, and Seals of Approval. Each category is loaded with a bevy of links pointing green travelers in the right "Al Gore" direction--such as towards the very "first five-star green lodge" near Petra, Jordan (due to open in 2009).
While green travel isn't for everyone, there will come the day that travelers may accidentally find themselves staying in a green lodge without actually knowing it. In the meantime, you may want to check out the Eco-Travel Toolkit and help edge things along.
Filed under: Activism, Ecotourism
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Organic Cowboy Jan 30th 2008 3:47PM
On May 28th, 2008 Perfect Earth Tours luxury Eco Spa & Resort will open its doors to the world’s first (but hopefully not its last) 99% organically sustainable luxury Spa Resort. The location chosen for this industry leading project is the pristine alpine mountains of the Yukon Territory in Canada
After years of dedicated research into how we could open this resort without contributing further to the deforestation of Canada’s north or increase global warming and avoid the use of non-organic building materials or non-organic fabrics, we came up with our business concept. Our main motivating factor was to show the world, especially the mainstream corporate tourism industry, that it is not only profitable but more importantly, very do-able to start a business venture without further raping Mother Earth or its local populations.
We came up with the idea for Perfect Earth Tours Spa & Resort based on our love and deep respect for Mother Earth and all people, our strong belief in personal and corporate environmental responsibility, and our love of decadence.
We wanted to provide an alternative for people who would like to experience the timeless beauty of the true wild north, who want to do so in absolute luxury, while contributing as much as possible to saving our planet and leaving nothing but their personal footprint in the mountains.
We are two business owners who truly care more about the environment and the legacy we will be leaving our children and grandchildren than we care about the “bottom line” or our corporate profit. Of course, we have to make a living and take care of our family, and preferably have a bottom line that will also allow us to lend a helping hand to those who might need a bit of financial support.
With PET (www.PerfectEarthTours.com) we are trying to bust the commercial myth that you have to compromise the environment in order to be luxurious and/or profitable. Not so! We claim that 99% of everything we have done for PET is based on organic sustainability.
One of our biggest concerns was the issue of people having to travel a great distance to our location. The truth of the matter is that people will travel - they always have. If we can convince 265 travelers per year to direct their travel time to us instead of some other main stream holiday destination, then we have done something good. We have partnered with “Planet Air” – a highly reputable offset organization in Switzerland. ALL of our clients will offset their travel to our Spa. Planet Air is the same offset organization which assisted former US vice president Al Gore with many of his trips.
By vacationing with us, clients will actually have a “net” contribution to lowering global warming and will then be able to go home to their businesses or universities or wherever it is they work and spread the word of what is possible and how businesses can lead the way for our environment, while having experienced a holiday like none other on this planet.
On a smaller level we have strict corporate guidelines for ourselves:
• Support local organic businesses first.
• Buy organic within western North America if we can't find it locally.
• Use recycled products – and recycle/reuse/reduce as much as possible.
• All of our bedding, clothing, and furniture are made of some kind of organic material (i.e. hemp, cotton, raw silk etc.).
• Our vehicles and generators run on bio-diesel.
• Minimize the use of fossil fuel-related items, with the goal of totally eliminating any use of fossil fuel-based items.
• NO PERMANENT structures in the bush. Our entire resort is dismantled at the end of each season in order to make way for any migrating or wintering animals. It is rebuilt in the spring, after the thaw.
• NO TRACE resort, which means really no trace!
• Using only alternative energy sources at our resort such as solar, wind, geothermal, river, and human power.
• 10% of our annual cash flow (revenue) will be donated to a local Yukon charity.
And despite all of the above, we are still a profitable business which caters to a very sensitive and demanding clientèle and exceeds their highest expectations.
Our mission is to “spread the word” and lead by example. It is very possible to start a business and at the same time contribute to the healing of our planet.
Our corporate motto is: BE THE BEST AND INSPIRE THE REST!