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Hotels are taking sustainable steps to cut back on energy use, recycle water and even source from local farms for their culinary delights. Now, one of the biggest household names in the world has caught onto the eco hotel obsession by offering travelers clear and easy ways to find the greenest hotels to stay in for their next travel destination.
Google has recently announced the launch of its latest feature to help travelers find eco friendly hotels and resorts. When using the search engine a green leaf along with an ‘eco-certified’ tag will appear next to a hotel listing, signifying that the hotel has met several ‘green’ standards. These will include sustainable initiatives like reducing food waste, conserving energy use, and reuse programs.
How Are Hotels ‘Eco Certified’?
According to Google an accredited third-party organization audits and recognizes the sustainable efforts of the eco hotels that make it onto the list. But, it is the hotels’ responsibility to provide Google with the information about their certifications from a pre-approved list of organizations that fall into 4 main categories:
- Energy efficiency
- Water conservation
- Waste reduction
- Sustainable sourcing
In order for hotels to claim these certifications, on site visits are required to verify their sustainable practices and to ensure that they meet the organization’s standards. While Google doesn’t personally audit or verify the certifications, meeting the standards set by their approved list of eco certifications requires strict credentials to be met. For example, Leed offers several certifications such as the TRUE rating system which places a focus on zero waste systems and courses that must be completed before certifications are awarded. Earth Check is an organization that helps companies develop sustainable strategies to reduce their CO2 emissions through data, tools, and tailored programs.
How Does ‘Eco Certified’ Help Travelers?
This new certification is a way to help conscious travelers cut through green washing to easily find hotels that are sustainable. And, it’s a way for hotels that might not advertise their sustainable initiatives to connect with travelers that want to support companies that minimize their negative footprint.
What’s especially useful about the feature is that the information is right next to other services like wifi, a fitness center or laundry service. When I scrolled through one eco hotel in New York’s Time Square, I saw that it had an energy conservation program, offered vegetarian meals and had a food waste reduction program.
One downside however is that when scrolling to view other hotels like Kimpton 48 which has won a ‘Sustainable Hospitality Award’ and had partnered with organizations like the United Nations Environment Programme and the U.S Green Building Council to offer several sustainable initiatives, it did not have an ‘eco certified’ symbol next to it. Other hotels that are known for their sustainable materials and use of renewed energy sources were also not certified as ‘eco’ by Google. One conclusion could be that since this program is new the hotel industry has to yet to catch up with Google’s eco certifications. And, for sustainable travelers looking to book their next vacation now, that could be discouraging.
How Does It Compare To Other Programs?
Another green leaf eco hotel badge is Trip Advisor’s ‘Green Leaders’ badge. This badge is from the website’s own certification process that is in association with the United Nations Environmental Programme. Based on how well each hotel meets the criteria, they are awarded a Bronze, Silver Gold or Platinum status. However, when scrolling through the website for eco hotels in New York, there weren’t any badges to be seen. Booking and Expedia were other sites that I also looked at for eco hotels. However, while each had blog posts and roundups about sustainable travel tips and hotels, neither seemed to make those same sustainable initiatives a part of their regular hotel descriptions for travelers to easily see and search for.
Compared to other programs, the search engine giant has truly found a way to offer travelers an easy way to cut through the noise to find hotels that take some initiative to be sustainable. But, since the program is still new, it appears that there is a lot of catching up to do for the list of sustainable hotels to be complete. At the end of the day it still seems like the best option for travelers looking to stay at an eco hotel is to do the homework themselves or read an article that roundups the top eco-friendly hotels for their next destination.
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