Dimming the Lights for Earth Hour
;)
To kick off Environmental Awareness Month this April, we are participating in an event on Saturday created by the World Wildlife Fund called Earth Hour. At 8:30 p.m. local time on March 28th, many of our hotels and offices around the world will be turning off all their non-essential lights for exactly one hour to conserve energy, raise awareness of the need to address climate change and create global conversation about the environmental future of our planet. The World Wildlife Fund's goal is to unite 1 billion people from 1,000 cities around the world in this great effort.
At Marriott, we take our commitment to protecting and preserving the environment very seriously. I've blogged many times before about what we're doing to become a greener company - reducing our energy consumption, greening our supply chain and ensuring all of our Marriott golf courses become certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries. You can read about our strategy on our website or on our new Travel Green Facebook page.
I blogged a few weeks ago about a new way for our guests to offset the carbon emissions they create during their hotel stays with us by supporting a portion of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil called the Juma Sustainable Reserve. A group of our Marriott associates just returned from a trip to the rainforest where they were able to see firsthand the carbon monitoring work that is going on in the region and even helped local school children plant a garden. It's great to see so many of our associates so excited about going green.
I'm going to take part in Earth Hour by turning off the lights in my own hotel room at our JW Marriott Camelback Inn where I'll be with my family and hope many of you will as well.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
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Posted By: Wayne King (4/5/2009)
Comment: Congratulations on your participation. Marriott has proven itself a forward thinking company in this very important area. I'd like to suggest that you could take the next logical step by making the conversion of your outdoor lighting to LED. A new development in this area has created a means for retrofitting existing lights with an ROI payback of about 2 years with 80-90% savings thereafter. I would be happy to send you more information if you simply email me. Wayne King
Posted By: Jorje O'Flanagan (4/2/2009)
Comment: I'm glad to see more organisations taking a more active role in this important area.
Posted By: Stuart (4/2/2009)
Comment: While I applauded the notion of protecting our "earth", I find it rather silly that we as humans really can't invest in technology (extremely cost effective) to automate lights going on and off. Come on people, this technology has been around for YEARS and cost is pennies to implement. It is easier for people to rally behind a cause (thinking they are justified) while NOT showing any effort to make changes within their home. I have home automation that lowers my costs 25% below what a comparable home of my size. Now, did I sit around mouthing for "cause" or did I do something about it? Yes America, wake up and DO something simple, invest in home automation and let the management of such devices be automatic. Less stress, easy to administer and cost effective-sounds way to logical for us humans to figure out. Ho hum :-)
Posted By: bob (3/31/2009)
Comment: I do not subscribe the irrational exuberance of a so called "Earth Day".
I told the Courtyard Manager such when I stayed there over the weekend.
Why didn't Saint Algore dim his lights as well?
Hampton Inns seem to now be a better choice.
Posted By: Gary Henry (3/30/2009)
Comment: Bill,
I'm trying to get my CEO to start blogging. Your latest post is a great example of how a CEO blog could benefit our company (PROSOCO - http//www.prosoco.com ) One of the sticking points appears to be liability. Are you not worried that liability issues arising from your blog could impact the company? How do you handle and still blog?
Posted By: Kathy Bowers (3/29/2009)
Comment: Thank you, Marriott, for signing on to Earth Hour 2009!!! You have my respect and admiration for this corporate move. Bless you!
Kathy B, St. Louis MO
Posted By: Nancy Morles (3/29/2009)
Comment: Sunday March 29, 2009
I DID IT......i turned off the lights for 1 hour....and it felt good.
First off I started at 8:15 pm when getting ready to leave, I usually leave the t.v. and light on in the living room when not in the room. I actually thought hum let me think I don't need the t.v. and light if I'm not in the living room. I turned off the t.v. and light. Then after I got ready to leave since my apartment immediate next door neighbor had his porch light on I left my porch light off. His porch light was enough for us both since we share the same porch.
BABY STEPS.......TOWARD ACHIEVING A MAJOR GOAL IS HOW I FELT. wow
God bless you and yours.
Posted By: Kathleen Sharp (3/28/2009)
Comment: On this day of 2nd annual Earth Hour, I applaud your environmental leadership in the hotel industry. Depest thanks from my family and from our shared planet Earth,
Kathleen and David Sharp, Tucson AZ
Happy Marriott Vacation Club member and
loyal Marriott Rewards member
Posted By: Philip Littke (3/27/2009)
Comment: Although it is a small token, this by no means will contribute in any large measure to our situation worldwide.
However, it is a small step towards creating awareness and communal involvement en masse.
I think of it in terms of changing a bad habit, or trying to lose weight; while we know we have to change, it is usually difficult to begin a diet because we are creatures of habit. This is what si ahppening throughout the world, and will continue to persist until a worldwide ratification of measures, agree to by all nations, are strongly enforced.
But, as our challenge to lose weight, I believe that we are not going to be able to change until we have everyone in the same boat doing their part.
Mr. Marriott, it is indeed an honor to take part of the Marriott initiatives, and congratulate all Marriott associates in creating this awareness.
Posted By: nancy morales (3/27/2009)
Comment: BEFORE ...... my thoughts were well I am here today. But these green awareness has enlighted my life and without even much effort I started implementing some practices. THANKS FOR TAKING CONCERN FOR OUR PLANET....it's just 1 planet and we're all inside.
