Finder research shows that 47% of Australians are actively looking for "greener" products or services. But for industries like energy, insurance and banking, it's not always clear which companies are actually doing their bit.
This is also evident in our data, with over three quarters (76%) of Australian consumers saying it's hard to know which products or services are truly better for the environment.
The Finder Green Awards solves this problem and gives you the answers you need.
What are the Finder Green Awards?
We launched the Finder Green Awards in 2020 to recognise environmentally friendly companies in a range of the categories that we compare.
With limited and varied publicly available data in this space, we decided to make this a submission-based award program. We sent entry forms to more than 500 brands across 14 different award categories including banking, insurance and superannuation, inviting them to enter. We were delighted with the response, but it made it hard to pick finalists and winners in each category. To see the winners of the other Finder Green Awards, head to our Finder Green Awards hub page for a complete list.
Green Hotel of the Year award
We love a good travel deal here at Finder, but we're also well aware that tourism can have a big impact on the environment. Most hotels use a lot of energy and water and also create a lot of waste. None of this is good news for the planet. However, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, as there are also lots of hotels that are taking sustainability seriously and taking drastic action to reduce their impact on the environment.
What makes a hotel green?
As with many of the categories in the Finder Green Awards, it can be difficult to work out the most important factors to look at to assess how environmentally friendly a hotel is.
The main thing we looked at was the current environmental performance of the hotel. Broadly speaking, that means the amount of emissions generated by the hotel, the amount of energy it uses, the amount of water it uses and the amount of waste that it sends to landfill. To make things as fair as possible, we also looked at these measures on a per room basis, which meant that we could compare very large hotels to boutique eco-resorts.
These measures made up the majority of the scoring but there were also points on offer for other things such as environmental targets the hotel has in place or any external recognition the hotel might have received, such as ecotourism certifications or sustainability awards.
Green Hotel of the Year 2020: Methodology table
The table below shows a detailed breakdown of the scoring for the Green Hotel of the Year Award. To be eligible to enter, the hotel had to be operating in Australia and open to guests in the 12 months prior to 31 December 2019. If you're interested in finding out more about our methodology, you can view the Finder Green Awards 2020 methodology document.
General environmental criteria
Sector-specific environmental criteria
Current environmental performance (37% of scoring)
Emissions intensity
Emissions intensity (including offsets)
Energy from renewable sources
Waste avoiding landfill
Environmental targets (6% of scoring)
Emissions target
Renewable energy target
Waste target
Environmental impacts per room (40% of scoring)
Emissions per room
Energy usage per room
Water usage per room
Accreditation and awards (7% of scoring)
External sustainability/ecotourism accreditations
Sustainability awards
Other sustainability initiatives (10% of scoring)
Sustainable purchasing program
Other sustainability initiatives
Green Hotel of the Year 2020 winner and finalists
In a very competitive category, Swell Lodge came out as the winner of the Green Hotel of the Year award for 2020, with Ibis Styles Hobart, Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley and Pumpkin Island all getting honourable mentions as finalists.
Green Hotel of the Year winner: Swell Lodge
Swell Lodge, Christmas Island
Swell Lodge scored well in almost all of the categories we were looking at, but rose to the top thanks to a combination of low emissions, very high renewable energy usage and a low-waste approach to operating.
From its remote outpost on Christmas Island, Swell Lodge also showed off some innovative customer-facing sustainability initiatives such as water-free lavatories, crab-safe vehicles and free reusable water bottles for all visitors. Each chalet at the lodge is 100% solar-powered and has a solar hot water system. On top of this, the hotel offsets the small carbon footprint it does create through its "Greenfeet" carbon neutral program, which plants native trees in the area.
Green Hotel of the Year finalists
Ibis Styles Hobart
Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley
Pumpkin Island, Great Barrier Reef
There was a lot of competition in this category and there are a number of other hotels that deserve a mention for the work they are doing to reduce their environmental impact.
First up we have the Ibis Styles Hobart, which was Australia's first 5-Star Green Star certified hotel (an accreditation awarded by the well-respected Green Building Council of Australia). This accreditation is based on energy and water efficiency, so it wasn't surprising to see the hotel also scoring well in these categories.
Elsewhere, the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley impressed by recycling nearly 80% of all the waste it generates alongside impressive plans to build a significant solar farm nearby to power the whole hotel and conference centre.
The last finalist was Pumpkin Island, an eco-retreat located in the southern Great Barrier Reef. The resort is carbon neutral and also uses a high proportion of renewable energy thanks to solar panels and wind turbines present on the island.
The Finder Green Awards are part of our broader Finder Green project, which aims to shine a spotlight on our favourite sustainable, eco-friendly, ethical and cruelty-free products.
Ben King is Finder’s Head of CSR & Public Affairs. He is focused on increasing the positive social and environmental impact of Finder and working with policy makers on regulation that puts the consumer first. He holds a Bachelors in Business Management from the University of Nottingham.
The Finder Green Report found environmental concern has decreased slightly over the past year, largely due to greenwashing and the cost of living crisis.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
