Asheville, NC

Though countless businesses around the country are implementing new practices to reduce their environmental impact, the carbon-emitting necessity of travel is often beyond their control. Even the greenest of employees find themselves towing briefcases filled with recycled paper onto an airplane that burns nearly a gallon of fuel every second. Those individuals traveling to Asheville, North Carolina, however, can fly through clean skies with a clean conscience. Thanks to the innovative Asheville Offset program of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, visitors have the opportunity to counteract carbon emissions produced from their travel. Through this program, Asheville can continue to protect the great natural amenities that have supported a tourist economy for decades.

Centrally located among many of the east coast’s major cities, Asheville offers a cozy and energetic setting for national conferences and casual visits alike. Tourism’s contribution to the area’s economy is not insignificant and protecting the local environment is not only an ecological ‘should,’ but an economic ‘must.’ As explained by the Convention and Visitors Bureau, “reducing the environmental impact of guests on the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina is a fundamental objective of the entire Asheville hospitality community. It is part of the region’s heritage and is embraced as part of the brand that makes Asheville one of the truly special places in the world to visit.” It was with this mindset that the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce first partnered with the Warren Wilson College’s INSULATE! program to help neutralize the carbon emissions of visitor travel.

Through the Asheville Offset program, groups working with the Convention and Visitors Bureau to plan their trip are offered the chance to make a donation based on the type and length of their travel to INSULATE!, a student-run program within the College’s Environmental Leadership Center. The partnership was born in 2009 during the Bureau’s sponsorship of the Mountain Green Sustainability Conference at Warren Wilson. Through the work of student volunteers and the pro-bono assistance of local experts, low-income, elderly residents of Asheville receive energy audits and retrofits free of charge.  

According to a 2008 study by the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, North Carolina households with incomes below 50 percent of the national poverty level spend 59.3 percent of their annual income on energy and that homes older than 10 years consume up to 60 percent more energy than newer homes. INSULATE! works to reduce these numbers by creating the tightest envelope possible through wrapping water heaters, caulking floorboards and ceilings, weatherizing windows, and filling in drafty areas with much-needed insulation. Because the program is volunteer-based, the entirety of guests’ donations is used to purchase insulation supplies, ensuring all contributions have the most effective impact. These relatively inexpensive modifications can greatly lower emissions, energy use and, consequently, help to stem energy bills from devouring an already limited income.

After traveling to Asheville in low-carbon style, visitors can continue their green streak by frequenting one of the many eco-friendly accommodations, venues and restaurants featured on the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website. The newly opened Hilton Biltmore Park Hotel, for example, is among the first hotels in the country to install a solar hot water system. This method of heating water eliminates 60 tons of carbon dioxide every year—equivalent to planting 18,000 trees. Sustainable snacks can be found at the West End Bakery and Café, which purchases produce directly from 14 regional farmers, grows herbs in their on-site garden, and donates scraps to local livestock. Through the Asheville Offset program and the promotion of other green tourism options, the Asheville Chamber’s Convention and Visitors Bureau is not only giving a boost to current local businesses, but is ensuring the economic vitality and beauty of the region for generations to come.