Eco-Lodges: What makes them sustainable?

With mindful travel and increasing awareness among business owners and travellers alike, eco-lodges have become a great solution to the problem. Those who operate these eco-lodges have incorporated many different eco-friendly options to help combat carbon footprint. The issue is, customers may know that these are greener solutions for the environment, but don’t know exactly why. This is what will be discussed below, what essential features make an eco-lodge well, an eco-lodge!

A defining feature of an eco-lodge will always be its location. They can be found secluded within natural settings, a deep forest, a wide-reaching mountain range or an idyllic riverbank. This is intended for the guest to feel truly connected with nature and the wilderness. These natural environments are maintained, and preservation is important for the surroundings. This is what makes eco-lodges stand out from the competition, its unique destinations.

The location gives a traveler the opportunity to return to nature and rekindle this relationship. Eco-lodges focus on improving the immediate surroundings rather than interior buildings, meaning the environment is being considered every step of the way.

Another huge feature is implementing indigenous interior design that depicts the local culture and heritage. The food also reflects this culture, usually food that the locals will be consuming on a day-to-day basis. The eco-lodge becomes a part of the local community and therefore creates employment for the area. They also offer fair wages and working conditions for the native people. This contributes to the local economy and again, preserves local culture and heritage. Through this, ecotourism is offering real value to both the guests and the community.

Of course, the green features are what help it sustain an eco-friendly living space. These can range from both basic to more advanced. Typically, energy-efficient lighting, eco toiletries/cleaning supplies will always be considered. They can even offer solar panels and insulation as a more effective way of helping the environment. There are programs such as PACE where these energy improvements can be gained through more affordable means. These allows the owner to create new valued solutions that help them compete in the market whilst saving the environment. Appliances will be shown that lower resource consumption (water & electricity). LED lighting will be common place.

All these features when combined alongside water conservation and renewable sources of energy, create a self-sustained and eco-friendly eco-lodge. These forms of accommodations are popping around the entire world, and for good reason. They are becoming the norm because travellers understand environment and cultural preservation more than ever. An issue can be that it is hard to have a unified definition that shows a place is an eco-lodge. Hopefully, we have shown a few examples that will make your choice much easier!