Paris Velib’ Passion

By Paige Donner

The Velib’ bicycle program in Paris celebrated its one millionth bicycle voyage last month. If you’re not yet familiar with Paris’s city-sponsored bicycle program, it’s such an innovative and “green travel” program in the form of a public transportation service, that the Velib’, in and of itself, is a reason to visitParis.

There’s good news, too: The already efficient and economical tariffs to rent one of the Velib’ bicycles just got even cheaper and more efficient.

The Mairie de Paris (Paris City Hall) has made Velib’s more easily accessible for tourists and visitors. The price of a Velib’ for day use is now the same cost as a Metro ticket: EURO 1.70. And the price for 7 days access for use of a Velib’ is 5 to 8 Euros with the first 30 minutes of use free. You can get your Velib’ tickets on the internet at http://velib.paris.fr and also at the Mobile Kiosks that you find at every Velib’ station which provide instructions in English. It’s a great alternative to hopping on a bus or the metro or walking everywhere.

Click to download the sector maps of Velib’ Stations.

Since the Velib’ stations are nearly as numerous in the city as the Metro stations, most people can get where they need to go within a half an hour, drop off the bicycle, and pick up another one for their return voyage after their rendezvous. If you go over the half-hour time allotment per session (not per day), you pay for the extra time starting at 1 Euro for an extra half-hour.

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Calculate Travel Carbon Emissions

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Paige Donner is an Eco Luxury Writer

SHELBURNE, Vt., May 12, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

MasterCard and Brighter Planet today announced a new program to help make travel carbon emissions analysis easier – and more accurate – for the businesses worldwide that use MasterCard corporate cards.

The Carbon Emissions Reporting program will initially be launched in the United States later this year.

Developed in response to the nearly 80 percent of companies expressing an interest in green travel initiatives, the MasterCard Carbon Emissions Reporting feature represents the first time that automatic reporting and analysis of estimated travel-related carbon emissions data will be available to corporate cardholders based on their card transactions.

“We continue to innovate and expand our enhanced data initiatives to help businesses more efficiently manage their corporate card programs and meet current and future analytical needs,” said Jay Singer, group head of U.S. Commercial Products at MasterCard Worldwide. “This collaboration with Brighter Planet will help companies with MasterCard corporate card programs continue to evaluate the impact their travel activities and corporate buying decisions have on their broader sustainability initiatives.”

Increased Focus on Corporate Environment Impact

With consumers and businesses alike becoming more sensitive about costs as well as carbon footprints, the launch comes at a critical time. According to the National Business Travel Association, U.S. business travel generates $240 billion in annual spending.

The Carbon Emissions Reporting program provides access to new data that is increasingly valued by companies as they strive to benchmark sustainability goals and initiatives, confront sustainability standards on their supply chains, and address the environmental concerns of stakeholders. The new initiative represents a novel model, implemented on an unprecedented scale.

“Our work with MasterCard is about giving companies deeper insights on travel purchasing so they can make smarter decisions,” said Patti Prairie, CEO of Brighter Planet. “Travel is a huge driver of costs and carbon emissions – as much as 30 or 40 percent of total operations for some companies.”

Sustainability in Action

Detailed estimated data on flights, rental cars, hotels and other travel purchases will be automatically processed by Brighter Planet’s CM1 calculation platform, which will integrate carbon scores into MasterCard smartdata.gen2(TM), MasterCard’s industry-leading, web-based expense management and reporting solution. The carbon scoring, which uses independently validated, standards-compliant calculation methodologies, will let companies benchmark, track, compare, and report various emissions metrics across organizational divisions.

“The MasterCard Carbon Emissions Reporting program is a remarkable step forward in accelerating the availability of information for companies on their carbon footprint,” said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a leading coalition of investors and environmental groups working on sustainability issues. “As we all know, in the business world, what gets measured gets managed.

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Fouquet’s Barrière, Paris’s Sustainable Luxury Hotel

By Paige Donner

Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière, Paris is a Member of the Leading Hotels of The World and is also one of the rare hotels to be Leading Green Certified. Its ethic of Sustainable Luxury/ Dignified Luxury® is supported even further by its triple certifications: ISO 14001— for its environmental initiatives; SA 8000 for its respectfulness towards human rights and the rights of children; and ISO 9001 for its superior quality of service. The Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière, opened in 2006, is attached to the legendary Fouquet’s Restaurant at the Golden Triangle of Ave. George V and the Champs-Elysées.

The hotel is involved, through its Leading Hotels of the Worldmembership in the “Make a carbon neutral booking” program, allowing their clients the opportunity to fully offset the carbon emissions generated by their travel.  It was just a year ago, in July 2010, that Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière was the first hotel in Europe to receive the distinguished Luxury Eco Certification Standard (L.E.C.S.) from Sustainable Travel International.

In 2010 approximately 4-6 tons of organic waste was recycled by Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière .

In 2009, 30 tons of waste was recycled by Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière. 

The hotel works with Saria Industries which offers them the best by-products from their upstream and downstream Biomass recycling systems.  The company collects organic waste, primarily food waste, which is then sorted before being processed. Through a biomethane process, the waste generates gases used to produce heat and electrical power while the remaining solid waste is used as fertilizer.

Pop Earth Champagne

Pop Earth is Pommery’s first “eco-citizen” champagne and it had its world debut at Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière. The champagne is made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes harvested from sustainable vineyards. It is bottled in lighter bottles that use only half the glass and labelled with recycled paper and printed with solvent-free inks.

Tea Time

Tea served is all organic and the hotel prides itself on its relationship with Pascal Hamour who packages his teas in biodegradable bags. They serve these refined, subtly aromatic teas with Fair Trade sugar.

Vendange, Bordeaux

Every harvest season, the Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière team participates in the  Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière Grape Harvest on the Bordeaux Chateau of prestige winemaker Marie-Laure Lurton. The vintage is then auctioned off and proceeds are donated to the reforestation project of the Gabardon municipalities. Read the detailed article on Local Food And Wine. 

Outstanding Service, Luxury Accommodations

If outstanding service is truly what sets a Five-Star property apart, then Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière’s designated Butler service distinguishes it from all other Luxury Hotels. Every guest, whether you book their Superior Room or the Presidential Palace, is assigned their own private butler, whose job it is to accommodate the guest’s every request 24 hours a day, at no extra charge, for the duration of your stay.

And in case we didn’t mention it yet, Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière also has the coolest swimming pool of any hotel spa in Paris.

Heading to Cannes? Try their Hotel Majestic, a Lucien Barrière Hotel.

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Tesla and Jetsetter Present the Ultimate Green Weekend

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In honor of Earth Day, Tesla is partnering with luxury vacation company Jetsetter to offer thoroughly green luxury weekend getaways. Vacationers are invited to stay for a full weekend at one of three top-tier, eco-friendly hotels in North America: The Loden in Vancouver, The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, or the Bardessono in Napa Valley. During their stay, they will get total access to an electric Tesla Roadster for two days. This is the first time Tesla has offered an opportunity like this!

The weekend packages go on sale at noon EDT today, Earth Day, Friday, April 22 at http://www.jetsetter.com/tesla.

Jetsetter operates very similarly to Gilt Groupe. It’s an online community that provides members with insider access, expert knowledge and exclusive deals on the world’s greatest vacations. Sales are valid for a limited time only, and are first come first serve. Those who sign up with Jetsetter to take advantage of the Tesla deal will receive a $50 credit.

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