Green Bug Adventures has created evaluations for both accommodation providers and tour companies. These evaluations serve a number of functions.
First it helps us to establish that the companies that we partner with and use for these services share our Ecotourism standards.
It also lets up communicate to you our customers how these companies are contributing to protecting the environment, and how they contribute to both community and conservation. On each of the tours you can see a ranking on a scale of 1 to 5 Green Bugs how well they meet the Ecotourism standards set out in the evaluations which you can view below.
How to interpret the Green Bug Ecotourism Ranking:
The rating is based on the self-evaluation the manager or owner of each accommodation establishment completed. Each question on the evaluation is answered on a scale of one to five. A rating of one indicates that the establishment never complies with the practice. A five indicates that they always comply with the practice. The overall rating is determined by averaging the responses for all the questions. This overall score gives a general indication of how well they conform to environmentally friendly and socially responsible standards as well as their level of contribution to conservation. The descriptions below give an idea of the meaning these scores.
1 out of 5 Green Bugs: You will not find any establishments on this website with a Green Bug rating of less than three out of five Green Bugs. An overall score of three is the minimum for an establishment to be a Green Bug provider. We do work with accommodation providers to help them achieve an acceptable score so they can be listed and be utilized by Green Bug Adventures. But a score of one Green Bug means that the business has done nothing to reduce their effects on the environment and actually engages in some destructive practices. They do not have programs to help to make their community a better place, they don’t pay a competitive or living wage and they do not support conservation. These establishments appear to be primarily concerned about profits or they are just negligent in their regard toward community or socially conscience business.
2 out of 5 Green Bugs: Again, you will not see an accommodation provider on this site with a Green Bug rating of two. Such providers are closer to meeting our standards but still do not score well enough for us to recommend them.
3 out of 5 Green bugs: Three out of five Green Bugs means that the establishment is over halfway to meeting the Green Bug Adventures Eco-tourism standards. These companies do a number of things that make their business operations more sustainable and beneficial to the community. There is still room for improvement though. We work with companies that achieve a minimum of three Green Bugs and we also encourage and help them where we can to improve their operations.
4 out of 5 Green Bugs: This is the rating that the majority of our preferred lodging providers achieve. It indicates a good environmental policy, a commitment to work to make their community a better place and a practice of educating their guests about the environment and the local cultures and practices.
5 out of 5 Green Bugs: The “power house” Eco-lodges that have this rating are an awesome force of community enterprise, being locally and community owned, and they meet all of the Green Bug Adventures standards including recycling, composting, preparation of local dishes, being built of recycled and locally sourced materials, conserving water, educating guests and their community about environmental issues and conservation, plus much more. It is our hope that one day all of our accommodations will be operating at the level of five Green Bugs.
Green Bug Ecotourism Lodging Survey
Green Bug Adventures Ecotourism Lodging Evaluation
