Marriott is expanding its green hotel program

‘Tis the season to travel as people get ready to hit the road for Thanksgiving celebrations, book ski trips, plan beach getaways to escape the winter, and prepare to get together with family and friends for Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or holiday festivities. We love to travel, but hopping on a plane or driving long distances can have a negative impact on our carbon footprint.l

So it’s nice to see hotel chains take climate change and environmental protection seriously. Marriott has recently been running a “green hotel” trial project, testing out the viability of greening their accommodations. The program involved initiatives to reduce water and energy consumption, cut waste, and lower toxicity and improve indoor air quality by choosing greener products used in the facilities.

There were 30 hotels in the initial trial, but Marriott just announced that it will be expanding its eco-friendly hotels by 1,000 percent to cover 500 hotels! But the move isn’t completely altruistic. In this depressed economy, the massive hotel company is also motivated by the bottom line. It seems that they achieved some sizable financial savings through their green hotel program , both in constructing and running the greener facilities.

That’s good news for the hotel industry as a whole, and hopefully Marriott’s ambitious plans will be a signal to their competitors that being green is better for business. So, as you plan your holiday travel, keep green in mind. Choose hotels with a green stamp of approval, ask about your preferred chain’s green policies, and leave comments when you check out encouraging conservation.

Marriot hotels now recycle in-room and beyond

Marriott is saving energy through a varieyt of initiatives