“From travel, food, to lifestyle, conscious choices are shifting from niche to mainstream.“

When I launched Azure Road a year ago, my goal was to fill a void – create a one-stop-editorial-shop for the conscious readers’ needs across travel, food & drink, and lifestyle. In the span of 12 months, we’ve published 250 articles covering everything from eco-conscious hotels, wines, clothing brands, beauty products, to artisan furniture designers. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved with our little team and wonderful roster of writers.

This year, we want to take the next step: celebrating leadership, innovation, and preservation in all of these categories. Today, we’re announcing the Azure Road Impact Awards.

Nominate here!

What is an Impact Award?

In industries like travel and consumer goods, words like impact-driven or positive-impact storytelling can sometimes feel like jargon. But they have meaning.

Impact is about our decisions that improve daily life and strengthen communities. It’s also about protecting the natural world we depend on — clean air, fresh water, and living ecosystems.

• Impact-driven means decisions that create outcomes beyond profit: lowering emissions, preserving heritage, or advancing social good.
• Positive-impact storytelling highlights not just what exists, but what’s possible — stories of change, progress, and leadership.
• Sustainable means using resources responsibly so future generations still have them — whether that’s energy, materials, or water.
• Eco-conscious is about being mindful of every step — from how a product is designed, to how it’s packaged, shipped, and used by the consumer.
• Regenerative goes further than sustainability — it describes practices that don’t just reduce harm, but actively restore ecosystems, rebuild communities, or revive cultural traditions.

By unpacking these terms, we aim to help consumers understand the implications of their choices while providing solutions.

Nominate here!

The Rising Demand for Sustainable Choices

Across travel, food, and lifestyle, conscious consumerism has shifted from niche to mainstream, and it’s growing fast.

• In the U.S., consumer packaged goods labeled with sustainable attributes commanded 23.8% of market share in 2024, up from 21.2% the previous year.
• Sustainably branded products are expanding at more than double the pace of conventional goods.
• On the everyday side, nearly half of Americans (49%) say they bought an environmentally friendly product in the past month.
• In packaging alone, 54% of respondents say they’ve consciously chosen products with sustainable packaging recently — and 90% say they’d prefer brands that use it.
• In travel, 92% of travelers say they consider sustainability when planning trips, and 75% of travelers said they plan to travel more sustainably in the next year.

What these numbers show is a change in mindset: travelers and shoppers are looking more closely at what they buy, who they buy from, and the impact of those choices.

That’s exactly why the Azure Road Impact Awards matter: they help surface examples of brands, people, and ideas that are raising the bar.

Nominate here!

Azure Road Impact Award Categories

With over 26 categories — from Most Sustainable City and Best Boutique Hotel to Best Wine Region and Pantry Brand — we aim to spotlight not only the major players, but also the small, the emerging, and the revolutionary.

Travel (8): Boutique Hotel, Hotel Chain, Safari Lodge or Company, Global Tour Company, Local Travel Company, Best Journey, Travel Innovator, Sustainable City.

Food & Drink (8): Wine Region, Sustainable Wine Brand, Small Wine Producer, Spirits Producer, Restaurant Group or Restaurateur, Heritage-Inspired Culinary Project, Pantry Brand, Coffee Company.

Lifestyle (10): Wellness Resort or Retreat, Beauty Brand, Eco-Conscious Kitchenware, Online Home Retailer, Heritage Craftsperson or Collective, Furniture Brand, Fashion Brand, Travelwear & Goods, Footwear Brand, Artisan Innovator.

Nominate here!

Nominate Now

The Azure Road Impact Awards are open for submissions. This is your chance to help recognize the people, places, and brands driving real change.

Submit your nomination here.

Nominations are open through November 30, 2025.

Finalists will be announced in January 2026, and winners will be announced in February 2026.

We can’t wait to see who you put forward.