{"id":24465,"date":"2019-06-19T14:16:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T12:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/?p=24465"},"modified":"2020-05-22T14:40:33","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:40:33","slug":"ecological-quality-green-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/ecological-quality-green-hotel\/","title":{"rendered":"Really Green! 10 Ways Hotels Can Better Their Ecological Quality and Reduce Their Impact On The Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discovering unique places without harming the environment<\/strong>, hosted in accommodations with enough ecological quality<\/strong>, is the desire of every\u00a0traveler\u00a0<\/strong>who is aware of how much his or her journey can harm the environment<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But, the increasing\u00a0demand for eco-tourism\u00a0<\/strong>is causing an increase in \u201cgreenwashing<\/strong>\u201d too. Eco-sustainability<\/strong>, in fact, has often become a marketing strategy, and some tourist accommodations\u00a0use only small and limited sustainability improvements to please the eyes of sustainable development aware\u00a0<\/strong>consumers. With the same effort, they could just become really committed to the\u00a0environmental\u00a0<\/strong>cause.<\/p>\n

We analyzed this phenomenon in depth. Looking at the environmental certifications linked to tourism in Italy and Europe, we wanted to know what are the real requirements to rank the ecological quality of a hotel, a bed & breakfast, a farmhouse,\u00a0a camping, or any other accommodation for our journey.<\/p>\n

How\u00a0to measure the ecological quality of your accommodations?<\/h2>\n

Following the principles of the most trusted European ecolabels<\/b>, like the Swedish white swan or the European Ecolabel flower, Ecobnb has chosen 10 fundamental requirements\u00a0<\/strong>and another 10 secondary requirements, that every accommodation should try to respect if they are really environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n

If your hotel, farmhouse, bed & breakfast, camping or apartment has at least 5 out of 10 of the fundamental requirements<\/strong>, and it’s currently active in reducing its ecological footprint than you can join the Ecobnb network.<\/p>\n

Here are the 10 eco sustainability’s fundamental requirements\u00a0<\/strong>of the Ecobnb’s accommodation network:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Organic food or zero-mile food<\/h3>\n

\"Organic<\/p>\n

Food men\u00f9 are mainly composed using seasonal,\u00a0organic and local food products<\/strong>. All the ingredients coming from bio-farming\u00a0<\/strong>are\u00a0clearly indicated in the men\u00f9. <\/strong>They are willing to provide a variety of\u00a0local and regional receipts.<\/strong>\u00a0They don’t serve either GMO\u00a0<\/strong>products or similar, nor products subjected to irradiation. They use water from waterworks<\/strong>\u00a0or glass bottled water\u00a0coming from regional<\/strong> sources<\/strong>,\u00a0or at least\u00a0not far from the accommodation, where regional sources are unavailable.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Bio-architecture and environmentally friendly furniture<\/h3>\n

\"Bio-architecture<\/h3>\n

The structure shows a good level of thermal insulation<\/strong> with consumption lower than 50 kWh\/m\u00b2 per year. Paintings, finishes, and\u00a0pieces of furniture are mainly composed of natural materials, without harmful substances<\/strong>\u00a0of petrochemical origin \/ of well-known toxicity,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0formaldehyde’s emission-free.<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. Solar Panels for warm water<\/h3>\n
\"Solar
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

Solar panels\u00a0<\/strong>are used for\u00a0warm water\u00a0<\/strong>production.<\/p>\n

4. Electricity from 100% renewable sources<\/h3>\n

\"Electricity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Electric energy comes 100% from photovoltaic, wind, micro-wind or micro-hydroelectric plants<\/strong>\u00a0belonging to the same accommodation or they buy it from clean energy providers (coming 100% from renewable sources).<\/p>\n

5. Environmentally friendly cleaning products<\/h3>\n

\"Environmentally<\/p>\n

Highly biodegradable cleaning products and natural air-fresheners\u00a0<\/b>are generally used, like the ones of\u00a0Officina Naturae<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0Recycling beyond 80%<\/h3>\n
\"Recycling
Recycling service in a room of Hotel Rainer in the Alpine Pearl Racines, Alto Adige, photo by S. Ombellini<\/div><\/div>\n

The different kind of wastes is separated\u00a0<\/strong>according to the local recycling options, going beyond 80% of the total<\/strong> amount<\/strong>. Guests have easy access in the common areas of different\u00a0recycling baskets <\/strong>for paper, glass, plastic, and metals. If possible, composting organic wastes\u00a0<\/strong>is encouraged. Guests are fully informed about recycling rules and invited to join<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0Accessibility with public transports<\/h3>\n
\"Train
The Swiss Glacier Express<\/div><\/div>\n

The structure is\u00a0reachable with public transports, or bus service is offered\u00a0<\/strong>for guests coming with public transports. They give full information on\u00a0public transport services\u00a0<\/strong>available on the place and\u00a0encourage\u00a0<\/strong>their guests to use<\/strong> public transports.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0Low-power eco bulbs<\/h3>\n
\"Low-power
Eco-bulbs, photo by Robert Haverly via Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

All the lamps are eco-friendly and energy-savings<\/strong>. The organization encourages awareness-raising actions about energy saving<\/strong> through the use of simple but effective messages.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0Flow reducers for saving water<\/h3>\n
\"Flow
Picture by pan xiaozhen on Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

In taps and showers flow reducers<\/strong>\u00a0to a max of 8.5 liters\/ minute are installed.\u00a0The organization encourages awareness-raising actions about water saving<\/strong>\u00a0through the use of simple but effective messages.<\/p>\n

10. Collection and Re-use of rainwaters<\/h3>\n

Rainwaters are collected and reused for secondary purposes<\/strong>\u00a0(toilet flushes, irrigation of gardens, car-washing).<\/p>\n

\"reducing
Photo by Tom Ezzatkhah on Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

These are the 10 fundamentals requirements <\/strong>on which we focused, used to select the tourist accommodations deserving to become part of the eco-friendly Ecobnb network (they need to comply with at least 5 criteria out of 10).<\/p>\n

Other requirements for eco-friendly hotels<\/h2>\n

There are also secondary requirements\u00a0<\/strong>which are useful to measure the ecological quality of your tourist accommodation:<\/strong><\/p>\n