Marriott has announced its water usage throughout its worldwide hotels has decreased in 2014 by 5.3% over 2013, and 16.3% compared to 2007.
The hotel group announced these figures on Sunday 20th March – the eve of World Water Day. Vice President, sustainability and supplier diversity for Marriott, Denise Naguib, said these figures are in line with Marriott decreasing its water usage by 16% towards 2020.
In 2007, the company set 2020 goals to reduce water consumption by 20% as well as energy reductions of 20% across its range of hotels worldwide, as part of a broader global sustainability strategy.
“We are extremely pleased with our 2014 water intensity results,” Naguib added.
“Water conservation is an area of sustainability where hotels, associates, and guests can directly aid the environment by reducing their water usage, whether it is through the fitting of low flow showers and toilets in guest bathrooms, irrigation systems installed on properties, or guests choosing to not have towels changed every day,” she added.
Some specific examples of water savings accomplishments at the Marriott in 2014 include:
- In North America, more than 80% of the total hotels in the Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense H20tel Challenge are in the Marriott portfolio.
- The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park was the 2014 winner of the NYC Water Conservation Challenge with a more than 10% water reduction.
- In Asia Pacific, the Marriott’s Nobility of Nature project in Sichuan Province, China, aims to protect the sources of fresh water for more than two billion people. The project also encourages water conservation in our hotels. Participating China and Hong Kong properties reported a 7.94% reduction in water intensity in 2014.
- Ten hotels across the Marriott’s Middle East and Africa region implemented water conservation projects in 2014. These projects, included water saving bathroom fixtures and smart irrigation sensors and will help to save approximately 92,000 cubic metres of water annually.
- European managed hotels saved 20.3 million gallons of water in 2014 through a number of initiatives ranging from pump audits to high efficiency dishwashers and water efficient shower heads.
For more on Marriott’s Sustainability Goals and to view the 2014 Sustainability Report, visit here.
