NEW YORK, April 30 — It’s the rare hotel that doesn’t engage in sustainable practices like encouraging guests to reuse towels, but many hospitality companies and tour operators go much greener than that. Ecotourism companies, which put a priority on sustainability as well as profit, cover everything from conservation-focused wildlife safaris to community-sustaining lodges and properties that grow their own food. Descriptions of some of the new and improved ecolodges follow, along with those of new tours offering emissions-free bike trips, carbon-offset cruises and glimpses of rare wildlife.

Hotels

A 3,000-acre on-site farm produces more than 70 per cent of the food served to guests of Belcampo Belize, a 17-room ecolodge in a Belizean rain forest that balances food sustainability and natural adventure. The lodge’s many eco-initiatives include snorkelling outings with the chef to spear lionfish, an invasive species, for later meals, and fashioning furniture from fallen hardwood trees. In addition to frequent farm-to-table cooking classes and jungle foraging outings, the coming Belcampo Birding Encounter, Jan. 28 to Feb. 2, 2017, features birding excursions on and off the property with H. Lee Jones, author of “Birds of Belize.” Nightly rates from US$407 (RM1,592); birding package rates from US$2,390 a person. Information at belcampobz.com.

Anticipating its 50th anniversary in 1966, the National Park Service hastened to build 400 cabins to entice visitors to stay in Yellowstone National Park. More than 50 years later, Yellowstone National Park Lodges is replacing the cabins, which had outlasted their life expectancy, with Canyon Lodge & Cabins. Three of five new lodge buildings, designed for the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification, opened last summer, with the balance slated for completion by September. They feature recycled or renewable materials and hiking and biking paths for getting around. The summer-only lodge offers rooms from US$140 from June 3 to Sept. 25. Information at yellowstonenationalparklodges.com.

Owned by Oberlin College and built to the highest LEED standards, the new Hotel at Oberlin, 35 miles west of Cleveland, is expected to open in mid-May. The modern glass and concrete building will have 70 rooms in Oberlin’s Green Arts District, a continuing development modelled on environmental stewardship and community sustainability. The design mixes new and old technology, from solar and geothermal power to ceiling fans and windows that open. Local Mennonite carpenters used a dismantled 19th-century farm to create some of the woody interiors, and a sculpture by artist Maya Lin will be installed in the lobby this summer. Rooms from US$109. Information at thehotelatoberlin.com.

You don’t just stay at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm. You can volunteer to plant, weed and harvest organically grown produce on the 25-acre property. But all the action isn’t outside. The inn was designed in 1932 by John Gaw Meem, considered the father of Pueblo Revival-style architecture; it is undergoing a US$15 million expansion from 22 to 50 rooms, to be completed in early 2017. The farm provides lavender and honey to a Community Supported Agriculture co-op, and the inn’s green practices include donating restaurant cooking oil to a biodiesel converter. Special events include organic cooking classes, demonstrations in distilling lavender oil, and “meet the farmer” sessions. Rooms from US$200, including breakfast. Information at lospoblanos.com.

Sal Salis Cape Range National Park, Western Australia

The solar-powered Sal Salis camp resort sits on the beachfront of Cape Range National Park in Western Australia, the jumping-off point for trips to the Ningaloo Reef. It recently doubled its inventory of boardwalk-raised tents to 16, but it still treads lightly. The boardwalks, which connect to the main lodge, are designed to protect the flora and prevent erosion. Canvas walls keep guests close to nature, while en-suite bathrooms and beds with organic cotton sheets provide luxury in the wild. The property has a new boat, and plans to use it to take visitors on excursions to swim with humpback whales, August through October, in addition to its whale shark swims, April through July. Rates start at 1,500 Australian dollars for two for a two-night-minimum stay. Information at salsalis.com.au.

Tours

Abiding by the adage to leave no footprints and take only pictures, Discovery Voyages explores Prince William Sound and its shores from the 65-foot working yacht M/V Discovery. It carries just 12 passengers, and the company encourages them to offset the carbon emissions associated with its trips for US$4 a day. Many of its summer offerings are sold out; spring and fall trips remain open, including a five-day Classic Discovery Voyage, departing May 21, whose proceeds will be donated to fund a book on conservation in the area. The trip visits areas known for icebergs, orcas and humpback whales, glaciers and puffins, and costs US$4,000 a person. Information at discoveryvoyages.com.

Ecuador

Before founding Gondwana EcoTours in 2013, Jared Sternberg was a perennial volunteer for projects that included building a school in Africa and teaching English in the Amazon. Now he gives back through his tour company, whose mission is to sustain remote communities by supporting them with proceeds from visitors. For example, the 10-day Ecuador: Andes to the Amazon Rainforest tour includes five days with the indigenous Achuar people of the Amazon in their Kapawi Lodge to experience wildlife tours and community rituals. The first half of the trip explores Quito and offers hikes in Cotopaxi National Park. Prices start at US$3,280 a person, and a tenth of the proceeds go to the Achuar. Information at gondwanaecotours.com.

This summer Trek Travel, the outfitter affiliated with Trek Bikes, will introduce a six-night trip through eco-travel-centric Iceland. Riding bikes supplied by the outfitter, travellers take backcountry routes to lava fields, hot springs, river valleys and glaciers. En route, they will stay in remote mountain huts, some formerly used by sheep herders, with varying access to conveniences like running water. The payoff is proximity to stunning landscapes. Between July 3 and Aug. 5, the trip will run five times. Rates start at US$4,199 a person. Information at trektravel.com.

Peru

In conjunction with the WWF, Natural Habitat Adventures plans to offer a new trip, Wild Peru, this summer. Focusing on conservation and scientific research, the 12-day tour is a sampler of climates: Andean plateaus, biodiverse Ballestas Islands, Amazon rain forest, coastal desert and canyons. This isn’t just a geology tour: Wildlife watches include offshore sea lion, penguin and seabird colonies, macaws in Tambopata National Reserve and condors in the Andes. Accommodations will include two ecolodges in the Amazon, Amazonas and Tambopata Research Centre. The trip leaves Aug. 30; rates from US$7,795 a person. Information at nathab.com.

Vancouver, one of Canada’s most environmentally progressive cities, will introduce 100 shareable electric scooters this summer and a 1,000-bike fleet of shared bicycles. Use one green form of transit or another to take the new Green Building Audio Tour featuring local architects, sustainability consultants and project managers telling stories of the city’s most sustainable buildings, including the Olympic Village and the Marine Building, an art deco gem dating to 1930. The free tour is available through a podcast on iTunes or by calling when you reach places with signs indicating that they are part of the audio tour. Information at Greenbuildingaudiotours.com. — The New York Times