Worldwide: Tech startup Wayaj has launched Alight, a sustainable booking platform which allows travellers to book hotels and offset their trip’s carbon footprint.
Alight uses tools such as the Carbon Footprint Calculating Engine (CFC Engine) and Hotel Sustainability Ratings (HSR) to help travellers make informed travel choices.
The platform lists a collection of over 88 sustainable hotels across 50 countries and enables travellers to offset their trip against verified Carbon Offset Projects (COPs) around the world.
At launch, travellers will have eight COPs to choose from which were obtained through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These projects include the reforestation of degraded land and the development of renewable wind power.
Properties are rated and vetted using Alight’s HSR system which scores each site across seven categories. These include community relationships, use of water, energy and waste, building materials and resources, as well as quality of indoor environment and corporate management.
Nelly Gedeon, founder of Alight, said: “The world is on the front line of vulnerability due to climate change. Sustainable travel has taken a backseat to the pandemic but as travel returns, Alight can get conscious minded travellers back out there using our proprietary Carbon Footprint Calculating Engine (CFC EngineTM) to offset their travel and protect the planet.”
Logan Cohen, Alight sustainability director, added: “The US books over one billion hotel rooms each year alone. Based on our data of an average night stay of about 0.0236 tons of carbon emissions, this totals about 23.5 million tons of carbon from hotels in the US alone. Offsetting just one per cent of these emissions through Alight would be nearly equal to turning all of New York City back into forest land.”
Further information about Alight can be found here.
Wayaj is a sustainability platform providing tools and resources to over 470 member hotels in 109 countries. The group developed the CFC Engine and proprietary HSR tool.
