Accor Showcases Its Sustainable Development Commitments for Earth Guest Day
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Accor Showcases Its Sustainable Development Commitments for Earth Guest Day
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Category: Worldwide
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2007-04-11
Sunday, April 22 is Earth Day, and Accor employees across all its businesses, brands and divisions will take advantage of the week leading up to the event to showcase their commitment to the principles of sustainable development. The culmination of campaigns pursued by employees throughout the year, the day -- called Earth Guest day at Accor -- highlights the Earth Guest program introduced by the Group in 2006 to federate its social and environmental responsibility initiatives.
In nearly 60 countries around the world, Accor teams support
sustainable development programs that are organized around both people ("EGO" projects to protect children, support local development, promote balanced nutrition and eliminate epidemics) and the environment ("ECO"
projects to control energy use, limit water consumption, manage waste and preserve biodiversity).
EXAMPLES OF "EGO" PROJECTS
-- Protecting children. In Thailand, Accor hotel employees are organizing the Walk for Children in Bangkok for the fifth year in a row. Scheduled for Earth Day, this charity event is open to Accor customers, who can buy their tickets in the city's Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis hotels. Funds raised by the walk are contributed to ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), a non-governmental organization comprising 77 associations in more than 70 countries.
-- Supporting local development. For this year's Earth Guest day, Accor's "Better World Day," to be held in Brazil for the fourth year in a row, will be extended throughout Latin America, with activities also scheduled in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Organized by the Accor Institute, a non-profit organization that supports social responsibility initiatives, the event is held for the benefit of underprivileged children and teenagers. On April 21 and 22, the Group's 33,000 employees in South America will be asked to volunteer to lead activities for young people, including games, concerts, plays, fund-raising campaigns, sports events, presentations and conferences on health-related issues, and building- renovation projects. In 2006, some 1,200 Brazilian employees gave their time to help the most disadvantaged communities.
-- Promoting balanced nutrition. A lunch "sponsored" by Gustino, the mascot of Ticket Restaurant(R)'s Alimentation & Equilibre program, will be organized for employees at Accor headquarters in Paris. Prepared in will be held at the Group's new Odyssey headquarters on April 18. Collection boxes will be made available for Ticket Restaurant(R) beneficiaries who want to donate meal vouchers to the French Red Cross.
-- Combating epidemics. In India, the Accor-managed Novotel Hyderabad and Hyderabad International Convention Centre both support Nireekshana, a local NGO that provides assistance to children suffering from AIDS. A book, toy and clothing drive will be organized by Accor employees for April 22. Volunteers will also be involved in renovating the
organization's center-repairing the electricity system, installing new electrical outlets, building a special library and painting the premises. While the work is going on, a lunch will be held for the 150 children enrolled in the Nireekshana program.
EXAMPLES OF "ECO" PROJECTS
-- Controlling energy use. In North America, a new awareness-raising campaign will be kicked off during the week of April 16-22 in Sofitel, Novotel and Ibis hotels throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. This will be accomplished through further employee training and the installation of activity sensors in the kitchen areas, LED Exit signs, in-room digital thermostats and upgraded building automation systems.
-- Limiting water consumption. In Australia, Accor hotel employees will learn about ways to reduce their consumption of water in a program conducted in partnership with local water authorities during the week of April 16-22. The program covers equipment and day-to-day practices that help save water, discounts available on the installation of this
type of equipment, and revised room-cleaning procedures.
-- Managing waste. For this year's Earth Guest day, Ibis France is extending its environmental stewardship commitment with the goal of reducing the amount of non-recovered hotel waste by 10% in 2007. In addition to its ISO 14001 environmental certification program, the brand is pursuing initiatives in two areas: optimizing waste recovery performance through improved sorting and collection processes, and promoting at-source waste prevention through programs involving suppliers. An educational campaign will also be conducted in Ibis hotels throughout France during the week of April 16-22. Customers will receive a brochure listing environmentally friendly practices, such as sorting waste in the room, turning off lights before leaving and
displaying a "please don't change the sheets" sign for housekeepers.
-- Preserving biodiversity. In Africa, Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis
employees will be involved during the week leading up to Earth Guest
Day in tree-planting programs in seven countries, including Cote
d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, Chad and Togo.
Three outstanding Accor initiatives in North America
As part of the Earth Guest program organized for the week of April
15-22, Accor's North American brands -- Sofitel, Novotel, Ibis, Red Roof
Inn, Studio 6 and Motel 6 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico -- are taking part
in three major sustainable development initiatives:
-- Planting 20,000 trees, representing each Accor employee in the
United States, Canada and Mexico.
-- Deploying the Hotel Environment Charter in over 1,200 establishments
by posting 65-point, tri-lingual environmental check list posters
throughout Accor North America's properties and corporate headquarters
conveys to employees pro-environmental actions including training,
consumption reduction, monitoring and analysis. This check list enables
Accor's employees to reach the ultimate goal of reducing their collective
environmental footprint.
-- Contributing $375,000 to a number of charities, notably America's
Second Harvest, the largest US food bank, the Tom Joyner Foundation, which
raise funds for minority students, and Canine Companions, a non-profit
organization that trains assistance dogs for the disabled. Funds are also
donated to a number of institutions -- including the University of Houston,
Johnson & Wales University and Pennsylvania State University -- that offer
scholarships in hospitality industry educational programs to disadvantaged
students. In addition, meals made from organic products will be offered in
Accor's North American hotels, with 10% of the proceeds donated to Second
Harvest.
On an ongoing basis, Accor North America monitors all properties to
ensure everyone is doing their part to protect the fragile environment.
Here are a few key conservation and earth-friendly elements Accor operates
year-round:
-- Participation in energy and water conservation programs including
creation of a monthly energy/water consumption report to inform each
hotel of their month-to-date progress in regard to consumption savings
(all Sofitels since 2004).
-- Water-saving shower heads and faucet aerators (all brands).
-- Ozone machines installed on laundry washers to allow the hotel to wash
linen and towels with cold water instead of hot and reduce the use of
soap/detergent (all Sofitels with laundry facilities).
-- Using environmentally sensitive Ecolab(TM) laundry and cleaning
products (all Red Roof, Motel 6 and Studio 6 locations).
-- Technologically advanced heating and cooling systems to reduce
consumption of power (all brands).
-- Florescent bulb recycling in all 670-plus corporate-owned Motel 6 and
Studio 6 properties by the end of 2007.
-- Corporate office recycling program.
-- Printing five million brand directories on recycled paper using soy ink
(all Red Roof, Motel 6 and Studio 6 directories).
-- Use of florescent lighting, which consumes 75% less energy than
conventional bulbs (Complete in all brands, except for Motel 6 & Studio
6, which will be complete by the end of 2007).
THE EARTH GUEST PROGRAM
After many years of pursuing initiatives to support the environment and
local development, Accor introduced the Earth Guest sustainable development
program in 2006. Earth Guest day is one component of that program. With the
support of a global network of correspondents sensitive to all aspects of
sustainable development, clearly defined objectives were set.
In terms of limiting water consumption, for example, the target for
2006 was to install flow regulators in 50% of Accor hotels. Thanks to the
deployment of a Hotel Environment Charter comprising 65 action points, an
installation rate of 70% was achieved. At the same time, the 2006 objective
was to double the number of countries in which Accor has signed the Code of
Conduct for the protection of children, developed by ECPAT and the World
Tourism Organization. Already committed to honoring the agreement in eight
countries, Accor signed the Code in eight new countries (Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Indonesia, Laos, Peru, Uruguay, Cambodia,
the Philippines, Dominican Republic, Romania, Thailand and Vietnam).
By leveraging its presence on six continents and regular contact with
120 million customers, Accor is helping to spread the principles of
sustainable development around the world.
Accor, the European leader in hotels and tourism and the global leader
in corporate services, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000
employees. It offers individual and corporate customers nearly 40 years of
expertise in its two core businesses:
-- Hospitality, with the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis,
All Seasons, Red Roof Inn, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands (over
4,000 hotels and 475,000 rooms in 90 countries), as well as strategically
related activities, such as Lenotre.
-- Services to corporate clients and public institutions: A total of 23
million people in 35 countries benefit from our broad portfolio, which
includes food vouchers, people care, incentives and loyalty programs.
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