Sustainable Travel & Ecotourism

Environmentalism in Italy has always been an area of stark contrasts. Italians conserve fuel and energy like most Europeans do, they go to great lengths to limit air pollution, and their shopping habits of consuming locally grown vegetables and bringing a bag to the store would put a smile on just about any environmentalist's face. Meanwhile, local entities' recycling efforts are dubious (investigative journalism reveals that most of the recyclables and trash in Rome, for example, ended up in the same place anyway) and, incredibly, sewage treatment plants have only begun to spring up around Milan in the past decade or so. Previously, it simply was flushed into the Po.

That aside, the tourism industry here leads the charge in protecting the resources of a country where visitor spending accounts for a whole lot of the nation's income. Rural Tuscany might very well be the capital of the green movement in Italy, and the region is regularly credited with leading the charge for sustainable tourism. Most hotels in Florence, Siena, and other Tuscan cities, as well as higher-end agriturismi in the countryside, have implemented green practices, like encouraging patrons to re-use towels rather than throw them immediately in the wash. Organic agriculture is widespread, especially on smaller farms around Central Italy that host visitors, so when you eat in a restaurant in Tuscany, chances are that the food didn't travel very far to get to your table. (The insistence on bottled water, however, is one blemish on an otherwise good record.)

Towns and provinces push for more intercity cycling paths to connect tourist sites, and public transportation is generally reliable. However, there is no escaping the fact that most often a family with luggage will need a car to get around the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside.

Overall, as a nation that needs to import the great majority of its energy from far away, and with 60 million people living in relatively close proximity, Italians have always been a culture to live and consume at a sustainable rate and a very human scale.

You can do your part by reusing towels, taking public transportation whenever possible, discarding trash and recyclables in the appropriate white and blue bins around the region, and eating locally grown produce. And don't shy away from Central Italy's tap water; it's very good.

General Resources for Green Travel

The following websites provide valuable wide-ranging information on sustainable travel. For a list of even more sustainable resources, as well as tips and explanations on how to travel greener, visit www.frommers.com/planning.

• Responsible Travel (www.responsibletravel.com) is a great source of sustainable travel ideas; the site is run by a spokesperson for ethical tourism in the travel industry. Sustainable Travel International (www.sustainabletravelinternational.org) promotes ethical tourism practices, and manages an extensive directory of sustainable properties and tour operators around the world.
• In the U.K., Tourism Concern (www.tourismconcern.org.uk) works to reduce social and environmental problems connected to tourism. The Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) (www.aito.co.uk) is a group of specialist operators leading the field in making holidays sustainable.
• In Canada, www.greenlivingonline.com offers extensive content on how to travel sustainably, including a travel and transport section and profiles of the best green shops and services in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary.
• In Australia, the national body which sets guidelines and standards for ecotourism is Ecotourism Australia (www.ecotourism.org.au). The Green Directory (www.thegreendirectory.com.au), Green Pages (www.thegreenpages.com.au), and Eco Directory (www.ecodirectory.com.au) offer sustainable travel tips and directories of green businesses.
• Carbonfund (www.carbonfund.org), TerraPass (www.terrapass.org), and Carbon Neutral (www.carbonneutral.org) provide info on "carbon offsetting," or offsetting the greenhouse gas emitted during flights.
• Greenhotels (www.greenhotels.com) recommends green-rated member hotels around the world that fulfill the company's stringent environmental requirements. Environmentally Friendly Hotels (www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com) offers more green accommodations ratings.
• For information on animal-friendly issues throughout the world, visit Tread Lightly (www.treadlightly.org). For information about the ethics of swimming with dolphins, visit the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (www.wdcs.org).
• Volunteer International (www.volunteerinternational.org) has a list of questions to help you determine the intentions and the nature of a volunteer program. For general info on volunteer travel, visit www.volunteerabroad.org and www.idealist.org.