Whole Travel Blog

I’m flying to Shanghai this evening, so in honor of that I wanted to post something on China.

As August 8th approaches, more and more scrutiny has been leveled at the world power that in previous months has come under the spotlight for air pollution in Beijing.  While news outlets anxiously await word of blue skies, relatively little coverage has been devoted to the positive steps China has taken to try to make the Olympics greener.

The video below features the Beijing Olympic Green Convention Center, which has incorporated features to reduce waste and energy consumption.  Rain water is collected on the roof for flushing systems and the irrigation of the convention’s gardens, and an ice storage cooling system and a “free air cooling” ventilation system are used in the public foyers of the convention center.  While China clearly has a long way to go in promoting environmental responsibility and sustainability, I do think the inclusion of green features at the convention center says something as to how far mainstreamed the green movement truly is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ji5Mu85y1k]

The 270,000 square meter convention center, located on Olympic Boulevard, was designed by British architectural firm RMJM.  It incorporates the largest ever Olympic media facility, retail, commercial, and hotel space, and sporting halls for the fencing and the pentathlon pistol shooting events.  The building will reopen as China’s National Convention Centre in 2009.

Check out this post on greenUPGRADER.com for an overview of the latest innovations in eco-friendly aviation.

My personal favorite: the flying Eco-Saucer.

Ever since our amazing day volunteering at Año Nuevo State Reserve in Pescadero, I’ve been thinking a lot about voluntourism in state and national parks.

Mount Rainier National Park has a standout volunteer program.  Their volunteers take on a high level of responsibility.  At the same time, they seem super accommodating to various types of schedules and have everything from one-day projects to internships to full-time projects extending over months or years.

Take a look and let us know what you think!

I recently read an article by Emily Waltz at Plenty Magazine and got to thinking about green travel certifications.  Certification schemes are a huge challenge for the sustainable travel industry because they are complex and confusing, and, consequently, have the potential to alienate would-be sustainable travelers.

Current certification programs in sustainable travel are problematic for a couple of reasons. First, there are just way too many for the average traveler to familiarize herself with.  Waltz estimates that there are nearly 100 different certifications globally.  Since current certifications are rarely applicable across countries or regions, it becomes incredibly difficult for consumers to get a sense of how sustainable their travel options are relative to each other.

The other critical flaw with these types of certifications is that they are just that–certifications.  The fact is that certifications, by definition, really only indicate a baseline level of achievement.  Once a business fulfills the minimum requirements, they are certified and have limited incentive to further improve their practices.  What’s more, if a traveller wants to compare two green hotels who share the same certification (if they are lucky enough to find two that do), they get a less than comprehensive understanding of what these hotels practices actually are and if one is more sustainable than the other.

The sum total of these flaws is a time-consuming and overwhelming process for the traveler.  It is unfortunate that something that was conceived in an effort to facilitate sustainable travel has now morphed into something that is actually prohibitive to conscious consumption.  Traveling is stressful enough, and if we want people to make real changes in the way they live and which businesses they support, we need to step up and streamline the process.

Enter Whole Ranking.  Whole Ranking is Whole Travel’s answer to the certification conundrum.  Whole Ranking assesses a hotel or tour’s level of social and environmental responsibility on a spectrum of sustainability.  So when you visit our site not only will you be able to search for ecohotels and tours all over the world, you will be able to assess their overall sustainability and then learn about different aspects of their business that make them sustainable.  Each profile will feature a written description that provides an overview and highlights of that supplier’s sustainable practices.   So if you are deciding between a gorilla tracking tour in Uganda, a ranch in Montana, or a tree house resort in the Philippines, you will be able to compare all three with ease. So get excited!

To read Emily Waltz’s article from Plenty Magazine, click here.

Welcome to the Whole Travel blog! The Whole Travel blog brings you the latest and greatest in sustainable travel news, information on featured Whole Travel member hotels and tours, and updates on the adventures of the Whole Travel team. Please send your questions, comments, and ideas to blog@wholetravel.com. We want to hear from you!