Wedding Blog

If someone used the phrase “eco-friendly honeymoon”, what would you picture? Would it be this?:

(Hotel Sacher, Strasbourg)

Well, now it could be. Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) has teamed with Sustainable Travel International to take the great green guilt out of globe-trotting. Leading Green Initiative helps the environmentally-conscious find luxury hotels participating in a “carbon-dioxide offset” program.

Here’s how it works: every time you stay in a hotel, the energy you use constitutes a “carbon footprint” — this is the greenhouse gas you and the FI are personally responsbible for generating. But if you stay in a LHW-sponsored hotel, the size of this footprint (estimated by the resort’s energy bills) is financially compensated for by them. In short, the ecological damage you do on your honeymoon is offset by LHW’s contribution to the program.

The donated money goes directly to two non-profit organizations which market renewable energy resources.

The site is a bit technical, especially the FAQs. But if you’re dedicated to the cause, it’s something to look into. There’s a search option for finding “carbon neutral” honeymoons, and the properties are pretty spectacular:

(Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, Maldives)

(Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort, Costa Rica)

Sustainable Travel International also offers a carbon footprint calculator, so that you can determine the ecological impact of your honeymoon and make a tax-deductible contribution to “repair” it.

And should you wish you purchase carbon offsets for you wedding (by calculating the number of guests, the size of the venue, air travel, hotel use, etc.), you can do that right here.

I think that’s something cool to consider. Instead of favors, giving guests a card explaining your desire to do something good for the environment. Printed on recycled paper, of course.