The Marriott International hotel group has joined with Conservation International and the government of Pingwu County in Sichuan to help protect the main source of fresh for two billion people in Asia.
Marriott International will invest USS500,000 in seed money over the next two years to support a water conservation program that helps protect the largest source of fresh water on the planet, which is located in the mountains of Southwest China. The program will focus its work in Sichuan Province, the area hit hard by the 2008 earthquake. Concurrently, Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels throughout China have committed to reducing their own water and energy use by 25 percent by 2017.
The program, called the "Nobility of Nature," is designed to assist rural communities in Sichuan Province with sustainable businesses, such as mushroom farming and honey production, which will place less stress on the environment. It is hoped that this will result in reduced erosion and sedimentation and improve water quality downstream in both rural and urban areas.
J.W. Marriott Jr., the chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, commented that there is a Chinese proverb, "when drinking the water, consider the source". And he added that water is the key to prosperity and sustained economic growth so helping to develop viable ways to preserve the water supply and conserve water in their hotels is important to their business, their associates, and their customers.
