'Green Star' for environment friendly hotels

To receive a green star, facilities will have to fulfill at least eight basic conditions of a 122-article "environmentalist facility form." They will be evaluated under 10 headlines, including water and energy savings, detergent use and waste disposal.

In addition, the Turkish Hotels Federation, or TÜROFED, announced it would give a "white star" to environmentally conscious facilities under its umbrella.

  The Culture and Tourism Ministry initiated a similar campaign in 1993, which did not draw much attention. But with global warming posing an increasingly real threat around the world today and as waste from hotels contributes to environmental pollution, the ministry has once again been inspired to act.

The campaign took 1.5 years to prepare and has the slogan "Show your sensitivity for your world, for your country, for your future! Now."

Though this campaign bears many similarities to the previous one, it is more comprehensive and has more official oversight and detailed criteria. In addition, the fact that there are two campaigns running simultaneously is expected to further increase awareness.

An opportunity to reward environmentally conscious acts

The project, prepared considering the views of the tourism sector and European Union and international criteria, will be conducted on a volunteer basis.

 The project is expected to be attractive to European tourists who widely prefer environmentally conscious facilities.