It’s exciting to see sustainability trending in the tourism industry. When I first began writing about the intersection of travel and sustainability back in 2015 the concept was foreign to many. Years later, as I witnessed many grassroots organisations and companies embrace sustainable tourism practices I remember thinking “there should be an app for this”.
Well, now there is, and it’s called Greener Act.
Greener Act gives individuals arriving at their destination awareness of local sustainable activities crafted by responsible organisations. Users can browse through places, events, causes and clusters, and either participate in or support the initiatives.
Recently I had the privilege of connecting with Greener Act founder Philippe Moreau and invited him on the podcast to talk about the app helping people to travel and act in a more sustainable way.
Philippe has a vibrant history in the tourism industry. Starting out as a hotelier in various global destinations, he then spent 10 years managing sustainable tourism development for HBD Principe in São Tomé & Príncipé (West Africa) and has since taken his passion for sustainable tourism into the creation of the Greener Act.
In the podcast, we discuss the sustainable tourism development of São Tomé & Príncipé and how Philippe and his team, along with funding from the UNDP and the Spanish Ministry of Environment, were able to implement a water-refill program that saw the removal of over 900,000 plastic bottles off Príncipé, the distribution of over 7000 reusable bottles and the installation of 15 water-purification fountains around the island.
The success of this project showed how much impact can be made by a small group of mindful individuals and so Philippe was inspired to help others share their sustainability efforts, hence the creation of the Greener Act app.
The app has two types of users, travellers and organisations.
Travellers can:
- Find and support local causes
- Contribute to community development
- Protect the natural environment
Organisations can:
- List their cause, event or initiative
- Showcase their good practices
- Monitor positive impact on the environment
- Access digital dashboards and measure their performance
- Create a sustainable cluster
As more opportunities arise for experiences centred around social and environmental impact I see a need for centralised information sources that make it easier for visitors to find causes they can contribute to.
Listen to the podcast interview:
