Accor won’t throw out the towel
PARIS – Accor has launched a towel-re-use programme that aims to reduce use of water, energy and chemicals across its 4,000 hotels with the savings contributing to the funding of up to three million trees annually by 2012.
The announcement was made on Accor’s Earth Guest day, where staff at all of the group’s hotels focus on environmental and community social responsibility projects.
Funds raised by the towel re-use initiative will be donated to the “Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign†administered by the United Nations Environment Programme.
An Accor spokesperson said, “Many hotels have towel re-use programmes in place, but often these programmes are not as successful because of a lack of promotion to guests, a lack of training for housekeeping staff or cynicism about how savings will be used by the hotel.â€
To counter these issues and encourage greater participation, Accor has introduced a formula to determine how much savings can be made through towel re-use and pledged to donate funds to UNEP’s reforestation programme.
The programme will be rolled-out progressively across the Accor network after a current pilot programme involving 52 hotels is completed and reviewed.
To prepare for the full-scale introduction, Accor is offering special training for housekeepers and is planning a campaign to build awareness among guests, who will be personally encouraged to take part in the programme through a message posted in their bathrooms informing them that “Here, your towels plant trees.â€
“The project should enable us to finance the planting of three million trees by 2012,†said Gilles Pélisson, Accor CEO.â€
Ian Jarrett
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