It has been an inspiring 12 months and itmustbeNOW.com celebrates our 1^st year anniversary on Earth Day – April 22^nd.

NOW is leading an engaging and powerful movement with a mission to boldly advance sustainability, social responsibility and principled business practice. We are dedicated to making a difference by providing the information, inspiration and empowerment needed to positively change people’s attitude and behavior about travel. This is something we look forward to everyday.

It has also been the worse of times for many people worldwide that were disastrously affected by the climate we are changing. Maybe we need to experience more frequency of extreme weather events, witness more hundred year storms happening every year or two, view millions more refugees struggle to survive before everyone will learn the economics of inaction. Maybe the resistant psyches of the present generation have to experience a terrifying level of fear before we can kickstart effective action towards a more sustainable lifestyle or for all businesses to support more rigorous sustainability.

We’re hopeful as travellers and the travel industry have their ‘lightbulb moment’ and gain consciousness of the serious impact of our behaviour on the world that the next generation will inherit.

We’re uplifted to know that the largest generation of travellers and employees are more informed about the challenges, are skeptical of most marketing messages and have an internal radar for greenwash. And we’re assured to listen to their voices question the lack of accountability around sustainability, and preference to support and work for responsible and caring companies.

We’re grateful for the influencer support and invitations for NOW to be an opening keynote speaker at high profile summits and travel forums that recognise the urgency and need to galvanise the travel industry to do more.

But we have a long way to go. On Earth Day April 22, 2016, almost 200 countries signed a historic agreement to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The One Planet Summit in late 2017 opened with the bleak assessment that we are loosing the battle against climate change and that we’re not going fast enough. If we carry on along our present path, we’re heading towards 3 or 3.5 degrees Celsius and a lot more countries will be underwater in 50 to 100 years.

The need for action is NOW, yet mere information, including scientific analysis is not enough to stimulate policy reform or effective action in many countries. For many already committed to sustainability, there is a fallacy of incremental change and many others still sit on the fence or greenwash. There is a crisis of trust in our world, yet many companies in the lodging industry still hesitate to be accountable and transparent around sustainability.

So it’s vital for each person to be informed about the realities ahead and to feel a sufficient level of fear to positively kickstart bold action. NOW is galvanising like-minded people who believe that travellers and the travel industry can be a Force for Good. Let us share our determined message with our circle of influence and inspire and encourage each other to be the change. Let’s demand that all companies, both public and private, serve a social and environmental purpose and make a positive contribution. And let’s use our spending power to support only properties that are accountable and transparent around sustainability with no greenwash allowed.

NOW takes a huge leap in our second year as we launch the new NOW Sustainability tool to raise the bar on accountability and transparency to boldly advance sustainability, social responsibility and principled business practice in the travel industry.

We believe that travellers are the ultimate validator of sustainable action, so we are calling on you to tell us your favorite places to stay that are a force for good, for people and for the planet. Tell these places to join the NOW Force for Good Alliance so we can list them in the NOW Sustainability tool so more travellers can find them and book them directly without being charged commissions.

The only way not to feel hopeless is simply to take action. Positively lit and radical, the NOW Sustainability tool is a resource of carefully-selected hotels, resorts and lodges that will help you to make smarter, sustainable choices when you travel.

We are all travellers and as we move around our own towns, cities, country or abroad, each of us have a choice to reduce the impact we’re having on our planet.

It must be NOW!

April 22 is Earth Day

NOW support earthday.org’s campaign to End Plastic Pollution. Stand up! Join up! Take action!

From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet.

Be the solution and make a difference. Be the change. It must be NOW!