The main companies in the tourism and food and wine sector have certainly not wasted any time, having sensed the trend and offered their customers authentic, green solutions. In 2020, for example, the famous Michelin red guide launched the Green Stars, Michelin stars awarded to restaurants considered at the forefront of sustainability.
As can be read on their official website, there are no fixed, predetermined criteria for awarding the Green Stars, because every restaurant and every place in which it is located is unique. When visiting in person, the inspectors look, for example, for:
- use of local and seasonal ingredients;
- quality of products, including organic, biodynamic and ethical origin;
- low energy impact in the use of resources;
- composition of menus;
- initiatives to reduce waste;
- disposal, reuse and recycling of waste;
- communication and passion shown by the chef and staff on the subject;
- creative environmental initiatives;
- collaboration with the local community.
[Source: https://guide.michelin.com/it/it/notizia/sustainable-gastronomy/la-stella-verde-michelin]
Currently, in Italy, 58 restaurants have been awarded this prestigious recognition, 13 of which are new entries in the Michelin Guide Italia 2024. Recycling; seasonality; relationships with the territory and local communities; organic produce; and tradition combined with innovation are therefore common elements of the culinary philosophy offered by these places, which stretch across the Peninsula from North to South.
Choosing a place awarded a Michelin Green Star therefore means choosing sustainability, and supporting a cuisine that helps the territory, keeping local food and wine traditions and excellence alive.
Likewise, the well-known Dutch company Booking, whose website is among the most widely used for booking hotels, flights or tourist attractions, introduced the ‘sustainable travel’ programme in 2021, through which accommodation providers that show they meet certain requirements can obtain a badge certifying their efforts towards a cleaner environment.
The actions rewarded are those that aim to reduce the use of plastic, such as eliminating polluting or single-use packaging for toiletries; to avoid wasting water; to encourage the use of renewable or low-polluting energy, such as LED lamps; to ensure animal welfare; and to support the local community, through dedicated projects or by investing part of the profits.
The presence of one, two or three small green leaves next to the name of the accommodation being searched for shows that it has obtained Booking’s sustainability certification, which is structured on three Travel Sustainable levels. If there are three leaves, it means the place has done its utmost to guarantee its guests the greatest respect for the environment.
As Booking itself has stated, the initiative is the first of its kind in the tourism sector, and was designed “to be applicable to a wide range of property types and adaptable to local realities and conditions.”
Furthermore, “the badge is intended as a credible recognition of high-impact sustainability efforts and actions, to be awarded to more and more properties around the world, and to give travellers a transparent, consistent and easy-to-understand way to identify an ever wider range of sustainable stays, wherever they are travelling.”
[Source: https://news.booking.com/it/bookingcom-lancia-il-nuovo-badge-per-i-viaggi-sostenibili/]
Thanks to projects like these, eating and travelling in an eco-friendly way has become an increasingly accessible option for tourists and lovers of good food. The growing attention to the environment in the tourism and food and wine sector has undoubtedly led to a significant change in the way people travel, and the creation of the Green Stars by Michelin and of Booking’s ‘sustainable travel’ programme has given consumers valuable tools for choosing green places and accommodation. These initiatives represent an important step forward towards more responsible and conscious tourism, which values local culinary traditions and contributes to protecting the environment.
