Green Key International

Green Key aims to

• Increase the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods of operation and technology in the establishments and thereby reduce the overall use of resources.
• Raise awareness and create behavioural changes in guests, staff and suppliers of individual tourism establishments.
• Increase the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods and raise awareness to create behavioural changes in the hospitality and tourism industry overall.

Green Key International began in Denmark in 1994 and was adopted by the Foundation for Environmental Education in 2002 to become its fifth international partner. It has since spread to nearly 65 countries and continues to grow in number and reach across the world.

Commercial websites, such as Bookdifferent.com, is partnering with Green Key to entice travelers to book eco friendly hotels.[1][2]

Tourism facilities awarded a Green Key adhere to national or international Green Key criteria. The criteria have been designed to be easily understood by travellers, feasible for the tourism industry, and clearly verifiable through control checks.

International criteria reflect the various fields of tourism facilities (hotels, hostels, camp sites, conference and holiday centres, tourist attractions and restaurants) and specialized national criteria reflect each country’s legislation, infrastructure and culture.

The criteria focus on environmental management, technical demands and initiatives for the involvement of guests, staff and suppliers. Some of the categories covered are: Water, Waste, Energy, Involvement and Awareness of Guests, Environmental Management, Staff Involvement, Use of Chemicals, Open Spaces, and Food and Beverages.

The Green Key programme rests on five pillars:

• Education of staff, clients and owners towards increased sustainable development and environmental awareness in leisure establishments;
• Environmental preservation by the reduction of the environmental impact of each establishment in the world scene;
• Economical management by the reduction of consumption meaning a reduction of costs;
• Marketing strategy by the promotion of the Green Key label and the establishments using the Green Key icon;
• Strengthening of the tourism and leisure branch by taking responsibility broader than then their individual establishments.

The Foundation for Environmental Education, which runs the Green Key Programme, uses a tool to compensate their CO2 emissions from flight travels. The funds are distributed by the programme Learning about Forests (LEAF), which involves children in planting tree activities.

Green Globe is a similar program offering a certification process for the hospitality industry.