The green tour bus

reen is all the rage in everything from fashion to cleaning products. So, it’s no surprise that green also is establishing itself in the world of travel under such labels as geo-travel, eco-tourism and sustainable travel.

But what does it all mean?

“The main trend we see with consumers is that they want to limit their negative impact when they travel,” says Brian Mullins, president for Sustainable Travel International, a Boulder, Colo.-based nonprofit that educates travelers and travel providers on how to lessen the toll that travel and tourism take on the environment and local cultures.

“Is it just a fad?” Mr. Mullins asks. “I don’t think so. I think it’s a cultural shift where travel operators who protect the environment and local culture will have a competitive advantage because those are things consumers care about.”

They’re so important, in fact, that consumers are willing to pay a little more if it means protecting the local environment and culture and reducing the effects of possible global warming. This according to a 2003 survey done by the National Geographic Society of 3,300 traveling Americans about their habits and concerns.

Isn’t all this lip service? Isn’t travel inherently bad for the environment, whether the mode of travel is by plane or car?

“Ninety percent of emissions that occur during a vacation occur during the flight,” says Kristin Lamoureux, director of the International Institute of Tourism Studies at George Washington University. “But there are ways to offset your footprint,” says Ms. Lamoureux, who is studying “voluntourism,” a new trend of baby boomers and college students — primarily — incorporating volunteering during their travels.

Mr. Mullins agrees that tourism, environmentally speaking, is a double-edged sword.

“[Producing] some emissions is unavoidable,” Mr. Mullins says. “At the same time, some of the world’s biodiversity hot spots [such as parks in Africa] probably wouldn’t exist without tourism.”

Tourism in these often poor areas of the world help sustain natural resources because it helps generate money, he says.

One of the ways tourists can offset their footprint, Ms. Lamoureux says, is by purchasing carbon offsets, such as planting trees or investing in renewable energy and energy conservation. Other ways of controlling — if not offsetting — the carbon footprint include using public transportation when arriving at the destination.

“In Europe, train travel has become so popular that European airlines are starting to feel the pinch,” she says, adding that airlines have started responding to increasing consumer demands for green fuel practices.

Continental Airlines, for example, has one of the most fuel-efficient airline fleets, Mr. Mullins says. Fuel efficiency is achieved by such measures as redesigning airplanes, rerouting them and filling them to capacity with passengers. Several airlines also help pay for carbon offsets.

“Consumers are feeling the brunt of some of this. Crowded flights, fewer departures,” says Patrick Long, a professor at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he teaches and studies sustainable tourism practices.

Other energy-efficiency measures within the travel industry, however, are less invasive — and probably less irritating, says Mr. Long, who holds a doctorate in education.

“Linen and towel reuse programs have become very mainstream, and many consumers take them for granted,” he says.

Those programs end up being win-win. They’re less taxing on the environment, and they help save the hotels money, he says.

Because Mr. Long works and resides in Boulder, he is well-acquainted with the type of energy-saving measures ski resorts are taking.

“Vail has the largest on-mountain recycling program in the country,” he says. Neighboring Aspen powers some of its lifts with wind power, he continues.

Nationally, 16 ski resorts get all their energy from renewable resources. Another 40 or so use some renewable energy resources, he says.

Other green practices to investigate at a destination include what hotels and restaurants do in terms of recycling programs and supporting local producers. If consumers don’t see the type of green programs they desire — such as the use of compact fluorescent lights, low-flush toilets and biodegradable products — they should pressure hotels and other travel providers, Mr. Long says.

“Consumer pressure makes all the difference,” he says. “When Germans come to Colorado, they just expect to be able to recycle. And each time we [and they] make demands on local businesses and hotels, awareness is raised further,” he says.

Consumers also can promote green practices on their own by not standing in the shower for hours and not turning up the air conditioning or heat excessively, he says.

Eventually, he predicts, all tourism businesses will use environmentally sensitive business practices — probably not for idealistic reasons but for the sake of the bottom line.

“The tourism industry is actually one of the few industries that has been concerned about the environment for quite some time,” he says. “They know that preserving local culture and local resources is important for the bottom line.”

It turns out that tourists want a unique experience when they travel. In other words, generic strip malls, one-size-fits-all resorts and deforestation sites are not among popular tourist destinations.

So, in general, how should travelers go about finding out about green travel?

“There is no one-stop shopping outlet,” Mr. Mullins says, “but it’s easier than it used to be.”

Ms. Lamoureux agrees — though she acknowledges that it’s harder than simply finding the cheapest flight or hotel room with the most amenities. She recommends the following Web sites: www.rainforest-alliance.org, www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/ sustainable, www.ecotourism.org, www.sustainabletravelinternational. org, www.away.com and www.back roads.com.

Mr. Mullins says he hopes the near future will bring easier access to green travel information, including third-party verification — in other words, an independent group that would verify that a hotel or airline carrier is engaged in the green practices it claims to follow.

This may prove difficult in a segment of the travel industry that can’t even agree on a universal definition, but advocates say that flexibility enables the segment to be more inclusive.

“There is no reason to get stuck in a definition,” Ms. Lamoureux says. “I don’t think the consumers care what the definitions are.”

Let’s face it, she says, an eco-tourist is not necessarily an eco-tourist seven days a week. Maybe he or she will engage in a green activity one day and play golf the next. Others might be green tourists every day of the week but not identify themselves as such.

“Bird-watching, for example, is a huge industry,” she says, “but many bird-watchers wouldn’t call themselves eco-tourists.”

Definitions don’t really matter in green travel. It’s green you do that counts.