BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International has been named the greenest hotel company in the United Kingdom by retaining its top 10 position in The Sunday Times 60 Best Green Companies in Britain list for 2011. Marriott, achieving a ranking of ninth on the list, has also won the award for Best Employee Environmental Engagement for the second year running, in addition to becoming the only hotel company in Britain to reach the top 10 ranking in the poll.
Marriott International branded hotels in the United Kingdom (U.K.) have invested considerably in their environmental programs and initiatives; achieving three prestigious certifications—the Carbon Trust Standard for all of the U.K. properties, the Audubon International Co-operative Sanctuary for 10 hotel and country clubs and Green Tourism Business awards for 25 hotels.
Marriott’s global environmental goals include working towards the greening of its multi-billion dollar supply chain, further reducing energy and water consumption by 25 percent per available room by 2017, creating green construction standards for hotel developers, educating employees and guests to support the environment and investing in innovative conservation initiatives including rainforest protection and water conservation.
‘A Tremendous Achievement’
“This is a tremendous achievement as we strive to create a sustainable environment for both our guests and associates,” said Amy McPherson, president and managing director for Marriott International in Europe. “I congratulate each of our hotels in the United Kingdom for their continued innovation and remarkable efforts to do business in an environmentally responsible manner and thank them for helping us to progress toward our goals.”
Marriott topped the category of Best for Employee Environmental Engagement through an ongoing program of employee activities, offering Marriott associates the opportunity to give back to their local communities through cleanup and regeneration projects around the country. Associates also participate in environmental training and are actively encouraged to contribute their own energy saving ideas and participate in programs such as Cycle2Work.
Despite experiencing one of the coldest winters on record, Marriott’s 58 hotels in the United Kingdom were still able to achieve a reduction of 3 percent in carbon emissions in 2010 and 2011 and the effective implementation of recycling schemes has enabled a significant number of hotels to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill to zero.
In addition, Marriott hotel guests can participate in Marriott’s environmental practices by reusing bathroom towels during their stay, turning the lights off when leaving their room and recycling. Also, guests who wish to support rainforest preservation or offset their hotel have the opportunity to make a donation via their hotel bill to Marriott’s conservation project in the Juma Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil, to preserve 1.4 million acres of rainforest.
For more information: visit www.marriott.com/environment.
