TOUR OPERATOR: ADVENTURE LIFE JOURNEYS
Environmental Initiatives: 63
Local Contributions: 66
Guest Experience: 69
Overall Score: 66
ALJ operates trips in Latin America and Antarctica only and sponsors (with additional donations from travelers) the Earth Family Fund, which concentrates on three projects: a shelter for teenage mothers in Peru, a community near the Inca Trail, and an Ecuadorian orphanage. In addition to working exclusively with local guides and support staff, ALJ chooses its destinations carefully, including a private reserve in Costa Rica that has started its own nonprofit foundation and invented a wastewater-purification system using water lilies. The company also prints brochures on recycled paper with soy ink—even though this raises costs by 20 percent (800-344-6118; adventure-life.com; eight-day Costa Rican tour, $1,345 per person).

THE JUDGES
Adam Aron, former chairman and CEO, Vail Resorts
Ralf Buckley, director, International Centre for Ecotourism Research, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
Mark Conroy, president and CEO, Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Louis D'Amore, founder, International Institute for Peace Through Tourism
Martha Honey, executive director, International Ecotourism Society
Sven-Olof Lindblad, founder and president, Lindblad Expeditions
Ron Mader, founder, Planeta.com
Stanley Selegut president, Maho Bay Camps, St. John
Shannon Stowell president, Adventure Travel Trade Association