As soon as we enter the Lapa Rios Ecolodge in Costa Rica, we’re given a fruity drink with an umbrella in it—and a lecture. As we sit in the resort’s giant thatch-roofed lobby, we receive an orientation from manager Jorge Arrieta that is half sales pitch, half environmental treatise. He assures us that Lapa Rios is at the forefront of ecotravel, and that we can enjoy our time here secure in the knowledge that we’ll be having as little impact as possible on the surrounding rain forest.

The resort, which is located on a privately owned nature reserve on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, offers guided walks through the reserve’s 400-hectare protected rain forest as well as opportunities to plant trees and work on volunteer projects that help residents of nearby villages. But what’s going on behind the scenes? How do we know they’re not offering ecotours out front while dumping waste into a local stream out back?

As the ecotourism business continues its rapid expansion, travellers are asking these kinds of questions. This nascent industry is growing exponentially without regulations in place to curb opportunists from greenwashing. For the average consumer, finding a place to stay that truly does its best to reduce its environmental footprint can be a frustrating experience.

Part of the reason for the confusion is that the ecotourism industry is still relatively new and is growing beyond its ability to manage itself. In addition, tourism is a complex social process that is difficult to measure. It’s relatively easy to give a product like coffee or honey a “certified organic” designation, but certifying an experience is a lot trickier.

In the case of Lapa Rios, information was relatively easy to come by ahead of time. There’s a booklet about each of the lodge’s 16 bungalows that—along with giving information about room service, laundry, and guided tours—describes in detail what the resort does to preserve the rain forest and support the local economy. If that isn’t convincing, you can check out the lodge’s rating from Costa Rica’s Certification for Sustainable Tourism program, which is run by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and independently inspects participating ecotourism properties, rating them on their sustainable practices, much as a star system is used to evaluate hotel services. Four aspects are assessed: the impact a property has on the surrounding environment, its operations (including water and energy management), its impact on nearby communities, and its promotion of responsible tourism to guests. Lapa Rios has a five Green Leaf rating, the highest possible.

Unfortunately, not all rating systems are as rigorous. According to the International Ecotourism Society (TIES), a U.S.–based nonprofit, there are more than 90 certification schemes around the world, with wildly differing standards. There are also several nonprofit organizations that ecotourism businesses can join as a way of expressing their commitment to sustainability. However, there are very few regulators checking to see if these ecotour companies are offering anything more than lip service.

“They don’t have to prove anything,” says Kimberly Lisagor in a phone conversation. Lisagor is a Vancouver-based ecotravel writer and coauthor with Heather Hansen of Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help Save Them (Vintage, 2008). “There’s no one going out and inspecting them.” But, she adds, “Just the fact that they’re members at least demonstrates some interest on some level.”

Many unscrupulous tour operators have set up “ecotours” that take advantage of travellers’ good intentions. Lisagor recalls one so-called ecotour in El Salvador that consisted of a minibus tour to a park where most of the shrubs were trimmed to look like animals. She says that another place in Peru refers to itself as an ecohotel because it doesn’t allow smoking.

To avoid falling victim to such blatant greenwashing, it’s best to use the myriad certification programs as a starting point. Organizations such as Sustainable Travel International, Green Globe, and the Rainforest Alliance are also good resources for finding responsible lodging, tours, and travel. TIES provides a list of hotels, tour operators, and other travel professionals that adhere to a code of conduct. (The organization will be hosting its third annual Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference in Vancouver from October 27 to 29.)

While TIES does not have its own certification scheme, it is working with governments and travel companies around the world to devise global standards for ecotravel. “Nonprofit organizations such as ourselves are working on a global accreditation with base-line criteria that national certification schemes must meet,” says Christina Cavaliere, the organization’s director of training and education, from her office in Washington, D.C. “We also believe that countries should add specific evaluation criteria, because every country has a very unique culture and environmental and political climate.”

Until some real standards are put in place, it’s up to consumers to investigate on their own. “Caveat emptor,” says Craig Murray, owner of the Nimmo Bay Resort (on the B.C. coast opposite the northern tip of Vancouver Island) and a member of the B.C. Sustainable Tourism Collective. “All you can do is phone the place. Ask them, ‘What do you do with your garbage? What do you do with your water? What measures have you taken to reduce your carbon footprint? What is your carbon footprint in tonnes of carbon you produce a year? How do you plan to reduce it in the future?’ ”

Consumers should ask ecolodge owners what they do to protect and conserve the local flora and fauna, which alternative energy resources they use, and whether environmentally friendly building materials and native plants were used in the construction and landscaping of the lodge. It’s also important to ask if the lodge hires locals as employees, and what it does to help neighbouring communities.

If that seems like too many questions to ask, Lisagor offers a quick rule that can help cut through the clutter. “My personal shortcut to find out if a place is serious about sustainability is to ask them what they do about sewage,” she says. “If you get a person who is not only informed but excited, then you know you have a place that takes the environment seriously. If you’re met with a strange look and a blank stare, then you know they’re coming from a different place.”

At Lapa Rios, staff answer sewage-treatment questions with gusto. They even have a sustainability tour, which shows you how the lodge handles its sewage, recycling, and energy usage. Not surprisingly, relatively few visitors take the tour, preferring to look at howler monkeys and toucans rather than septic tanks.

For the average traveller, having to do so much research may make a trip seem more like a homework assignment than a vacation. But ultimately, doing some legwork in advance can enrich your travel experience. Says Lisagor, “I tell people that by being informed and educating yourself about the issues that are going on in a place you’re going to visit, you’re not only minimizing your impact, you’re also more likely to be emotionally invested in a place.”

Access: The writer stayed as a guest of Lapa Rios (www.laparios.com/). For information about finding sustainable lodging and ecotours, visit the International Ecotourism Society (www.ecotourism.org/), Sustainable Travel International (www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/), Green Globe (www.ec3global.com/products-programs/green-globe/), and the Rainforest Alliance (www.rainforest-alliance.org/). For information about ecotourism in Costa Rica, visit www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr/EN/home.shtml.