Richmond, VA – On April 25, 2022, the Virginia Green Travel program recognized 20 Virginia organizations and seven individuals for their outstanding efforts to protect the environment and support green tourism in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The awards were presented during the 9th annual Virginia Green Travel Conference.
“The Virginia Green Travel Certification program works to support and promote those businesses that are committed to reducing the environmental impacts of their operation,” Tom Griffin, executive director of the Virginia Green Travel Alliance, said. “The Virginia Green Travel Star Awards recognize the businesses and individuals that have demonstrated outstanding commitments to the environment in the past year. We are proud to recognize Virginia Clean Cities as a true partner in our efforts to promote sustainable tourism in Virginia!”
Virginia Clean Cities (VCC) will accept an award for the “Most Innovative & Impactful Green Project” for its work on the Mid-Atlantic Electrification Partnership, a multi-year project which seeks to further electric vehicle infrastructure in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, DC. VCC’s Sarah Stalcup-Jones will receive the Virginia Green All-Star Award for her commitment and work on electric school buses as well as her education and research in the clean transportation industry.
“Virginia Clean Cities is very honored to be recognized for our team’s work in clean transportation and emission reduction. This work has a direct relationship to promoting sustainable tourism and travel in the Commonwealth,” Alleyn Harned, executive director of VCC, said. “We are happy to support the work of the Virginia Green Travel Alliance, and we wish to congratulate all the award winners this year.”
VCC’s Harned presented at a panel presentation on Monday, April 25 with representatives from the City of Chesapeake, Richmond Region Tourism and DuCard Vineyards. The panelists shared their insights for continuous improvement in sustainable operations.
The Virginia Green Travel program is run through a partnership between the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, Virginia State Parks, the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, and the Virginia Green Travel Alliance. The program encourages green practices in all sectors of Virginia’s tourism industry. More than 1,200 businesses and partner organizations have voluntarily certified their green commitments through Virginia Green.