Marriott Hotels Are Joining the Fight Against Plastic!

Last week we received some great, major news: Marriott International Inc., the largest hotel chain in the world with over 6,500 properties, announced that they would be removing plastic straws from all of their hotels by July 2019. This would amount to a reduction by over 1 billion plastic straws, a huge figure that’s certainly going to make a dent in the eco-consciousness of the hospitality industry. It joins brands like Starbucks, Hyatt, and Bon Appetit in their commitment to reduce or eliminate plastics.

Paper straws are the way to go

As readers of this know, our founder Ben Pundole began the initiative Stay Plastic Free in 2017. As the VP of Brand Experience at the EDITION Hotel chain (which is owned by Marriott), he’s helped them begin to eliminate single-use plastics starting with the London EDITION, while spreading the message to encourage other hotels and restaurants to do the same. Straws, plastic bottles, cutlery—these small objects greatly contribute to the pollution across oceans, and smaller objects are often the culprit when directly harming wildlife. Obviously this issue is important to us, and we’re excited to see such a major hotel brand taking a stand against overusing plastic!

Check out Stay Plastic Free and follow the initiative @StayPlasticFree for further updates on eliminating plastic pollution