Marriott Guests Invited to Save Rainforest, Climate for $1/Day

Under an agreement signed April 7, Marriott and its customers will contribute to a fund administered by the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, a nonprofit public interest institution in Brazil.

The money will be used to monitor and protect the 1.4 million acre Juma Sustainable Development reserve, an area rich in biodiversity in a high risk deforestation zone.

Marriott has committed an initial $2 million to fund the Juma rainforest project as part of its commitment to offset the climate-warming greenhouse gases emitted by operations at Marriott properties.

"Conserving rainforests, the lungs of the Earth, is one of the most important things we can do to improve the climate," says Chief Financial Officer Arne Sorenson, who co-chairs Marriott's Executive Green Council.

"According to Conservation International and other environmental experts, the destruction of tropical forests contributes 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and fuels climate change," he said.

Without this intervention, up to 62 percent of the Juma rainforest would be lost to illegal deforestation activities by 2050, resulting in four million tons of carbon emissions in the first 10 years alone. Habitat for 21 species of primates and other wildlife in the forest would be destroyed.

Boa Frente is a 17 home community that is part of the Juma region of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. (Photo courtesy Marriott International)

TUV SUD, an independent accredited environmental auditing firm, has validated the project, awarding it Gold Status under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards.

The new fund also will support 2,500 residents of the Juma reserve who will help protect the rainforest from illegal farming and logging. Contributions will help fund personnel and equipment to monitor and protect the forest, a school and education curriculum, a medical facility and a community center.

"This is the first project on reducing emissions from deforestation in Brazil and one of the first in the world," said Amazonas Governor Eduardo Braga. "This agreement between the government of Amazonas and Marriott will make history because it demonstrates how rainforest preservation can be used as a climate strategy."

Marriott guests and group customers will be able to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated from their hotel stays by contributing to this rainforest fund.

Guests are invited to make a donation to the Juma rainforest fund when they make a reservation on Marriott.com. Ten dollars will offset the carbon dioxide emissions for 10 roomnights at Marriott hotels and the donation is tax deductible for U.S. taxpayers.

Last year, Marriott announced its "Spirit To Preserve" environmental strategy to address climate change. The five-point strategy was developed in collaboration with Conservation International, a global conservation organization based in Washington, DC.

Under the plan, Marriott will work towards greening its $10 billion supply chain, reducing fuel and water consumption by 25 percent per available room, and installing solar power at up to 40 hotels by 2017.

The company will expand existing "reduce, reuse, recycle" programs already in place at 90 percent of hotels to consistently include guest and meeting rooms, beginning with pilot hotels across all brands in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Washington, DC.

Marriott says it will empower its hotel development partners to site, design and construct new hotels according to green standards by updating Marriott design guidelines in line with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards by the end of 2009.

The company expects to expand its portfolio of LEED-certified hotels across all Marriott brands. The Inn & Conference Center by Marriott at the University of Maryland is already LEED certified.

The company is pursuing LEED-Existing Building status for its headquarters building in Bethesda, with a goal of earning that status by the end of 2009.

Recently, Marriott headquarters, along with its timeshare division based in Orlando, Florida, replaced more than 2.5 million pieces of Styrofoam and plastic utensils with tableware made of potato, sugar cane and cornstarch - all biodegradable within an average of 100 days.

Some of the first environmentally-friendly products Marriott will use are BIC Ecolutions pens made from pre-consumer recycled plastic; paint low in toxic volatile organic compounds; and "room-ready" towels by Standard Textile, which will saves millions of gallons of water annually by eliminating the initial wash cycle.

Other items under consideration include compostable key cards, recyclable carpet, and more responsibly packaged soaps and shampoos.

The company will hold the second annual Green Fair at its headquarters building on April 17 and will introduce a "green meeting" program for its meeting planners this May. Employees on business travel will be offered hybrid rental vehicles with SmartWay certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Environmental protection is not new for Marriott. Over the past 10 years, the company has replaced 450,000 light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescents, introduced linen reuse programs, and installed 400,000 low-flow showerheads and toilets at its hotels worldwide.

The U.S. EPA gave Marriott its 2008 Sustained Excellence award and placed the ENERGY STAR label on more than 250 of its hotels, the most of any hotel company.

"With thousands of hotels around the world, Marriott has the scale to make a strong positive contribution to the environment," says Glenn Prickett, senior vice president and executive director at Conservation International's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business. "By reducing its own environmental footprint and protecting forests, Marriott is addressing the major drivers of climate change - energy use and deforestation."

Said Kathleen Matthews, co-chair of Marriott's Green Council, "We are all guests on this planet, and that's why an integrated green strategy is a business imperative."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.