Marriott Goes Green to Gain Green

Helping rainforest also helps hotel chain's bottom line
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 8, 2008 3:37 PM CDT
Marriott Goes Green to Gain Green
Juma Sustainable Development Reserve, State of Amazonas, Brazil, which the Marriott company is helping to keep up with its $2 million donation.   (Associated Press)

Marriott is making a big environmental push, helping to protect Brazilian rainforests and implementing lower energy consumption and more recycling in many of its hotels worldwide, the Washington Post reports. And although consumer demand is one reason for the changes, the primary drive seems less altruistic. "We've got a lot of beachfront hotels," says the CEO. "We don't want two feet of water in the lobbies."

JW Marriott Jr. said his company readily agreed to give $2 million to preserve 1.4 million acres of rainforest, explaining, "It's really good from a PR standpoint and it will help the environment." The pledge is part of an initiative a Rainforest Alliance spokesman, who praised the effiort, called "a calculated guess that their guests or some portion of their guests are concerned about the environment." (More Marriott stories.)

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