The Green Key

The Green Key is an eco-label for tourism facilities that aims to promote sustainable tourism by recognising and awarding organisations for their good initiatives. It is awarded to companies who fulfil certain criteria. Parts of the tourism industry which will be available for evaluation include hotels, youth hostels, conference and holiday centres, campsites, holiday houses, leisure facilities and restaurants.

The Green Key scheme originated in Denmark in 1994 and in 1998 France signed up and started awarding camp sites with the Green Key status. The criteria has since been developed to include a number of tourist facilities. The programme is run by the international group the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that also runs Blue Flag for beaches and marines and the Eco Schools programme. The Green Key scheme is available to all 37 countries in the FEE network. It is currently established in nine countries and a further nine are in the process of developing the programme, including England. ENCAMS will administer the award in England on behalf of FEE and will concentrate on hotels in the early stages to pilot the scheme and assess its success rate.

In order to achieve Green Key status each hotel has to fulfil a number of environmental requirements based on a list of criteria. The criteria covers a number of different areas including:

• Environmental Management
• Staff Involvement
• Guest Information
• Water and Energy use
• Washing and Cleaning
• Waste
• Food and Beverage
• Indoor Environment
• Parks and Parking areas
• Green Activities
• Administration

There are also a number of other eco-labels for tourism. However, The Green Key is unique in its approach as it focuses on environmental education. The aim is to change the practises and behaviours of people involved in the tourism industry and to encourage them to behave in a more responsible way towards the environment. Benefits for businesses include cost savings on water, energy and waste, a better environmental image and advantages in marketing. On average, investigations show that Green Key businesses compared to non-Green Key businesses use up 20% less electricity, 25% less energy for heating and 27% less water per guest.