On Earth Day, Her Campus Northwestern hosted Ecobnb CEO Simone Riccardi for a conversation about eco-tourism, starting your own business and sustainability. As the world begins to reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a better time to re-evaluate how we travel and how it impacts our planet.
Ecobnb is an Italian startup that fosters sustainable tourism, making ‘green’ accommodations accessible to the general public across 55 countries. The company functions much like the travel giant Airbnb; enthusiastic travelers go to the website, enter the location they hope to visit, and are presented with a variety of options straddling almost every budget imaginable. The company was founded in 2015 and has been aided by ‘seed money’ it has won from grants across Europe for promoting sustainability.
For Ecobnb to list an accommodation on the site, the location must check off a series of boxes, and therefore passing a threshold of sustainability. To join the community, the accommodation must satisfy five of Ecobnb’s 10 green categories.
-
Organic or local food
-
Green building
-
100% renewable energy
-
Energy-saving lights
-
Solar thermal panels for hot water
-
Ecological cleaning products
-
More than 80% waste recycling
-
Car-free accessibility
-
Recovery & reuse of rainwater
-
Water flow reducers
The result leaves eco-conscious tourists with a list of organic farms, rural villas and self-sufficient cottages as possible options–essentially surrounding its users with nature.
Ecobnb allows tourists to travel without compromising their environmental morals–beyond that, the diversity of listings allows travelers to explore otherwise untouched areas and deepen their connections with nature and local communities. Instead of tourism being destructive or disruptive, Ecobnb has made it empathetic and self-aware.
Do something good for the planet next time you travel and find your accommodations through Ecobnb.com.