The Marriott Executive Apartments Manama, Bahrain announced its participation in the celebration of Marriott Environmental Awareness Month. A series of environmental activities have been scheduled during the month of April to commemorate the global campaign on reducing emission and climate change.
Marriott International recognizes April as "Environmental Awareness Month" to communicate and celebrate the company's commitment to environmentally responsible operations, raise awareness of environmental issues, and increase associates participation in ecological activities. More than 140 thousands associates from 3,200 lodging properties around the world are celebrating the month with various eco-friendly related events.
In Bahrain, all associates at the Marriott Executive Apartments Manama are celebrating the month by participating in Energy Saving Competition. The associates are encouraged to come up with ideas on how to save energy consumption and protect the environment. Three best ideas will be selected and implemented in the hotel operations to support the company's program on minimizing energy usage.
"The main purpose of this competition is to educate our associates on the significance of saving energy for our future. The best ideas that can be implemented will become best practices to be used by other Marriott properties," said Chief Engineer Saeed Qureshi who is also Deputy Chairman of Energy Saving and Safety Committee of the property.
On 25th April, the property conducted Community Clean-Up Day marking the celebration of Earth Day 2010. Associates participated in cleaning up main streets and beaches in Al Fateh, Juffair area. "We encourage our associates to build upon their commitment on serving and cleaning their community. We ensure every associate's participation in supporting the elimination of waste, help the growth of native plants and trees, and beautify communities," said General Manager Hosein Garan.
Apart from Saving Energy Competition and Community Clean-Up Day, the property also encourages its associates to practice what they call "Green Daily Basics". The Green Daily Basics is being read on a daily basis and each associate enlivens daily tips on how to create environmentally-friendly working atmosphere. According to Human Resource Manager Loay Mamdouh, it includes simple actions in everyday routine of human life, for instance on 30th April, the Green Daily Basic is; Recycle and use recycled products. You'll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle. "These tips are very useful to practice on a daily basis, and not only reading it, our associates also love to practice a new tip every day," said Loay.
"The main purpose of this competition is to educate our associates on the significance of saving energy for our future. The best ideas that can be implemented will become best practices to be used by other Marriott properties," said Chief Engineer Saeed Qureshi who is also Deputy Chairman of Energy Saving and Safety Committee of the property.
On 25th April, the property conducted Community Clean-Up Day marking the celebration of Earth Day 2010. Associates participated in cleaning up main streets and beaches in Al Fateh, Juffair area. "We encourage our associates to build upon their commitment on serving and cleaning their community. We ensure every associate's participation in supporting the elimination of waste, help the growth of native plants and trees, and beautify communities," said General Manager Hosein Garan.
Apart from Saving Energy Competition and Community Clean-Up Day, the property also encourages its associates to practice what they call "Green Daily Basics". The Green Daily Basics is being read on a daily basis and each associate enlivens daily tips on how to create environmentally-friendly working atmosphere. According to Human Resource Manager Loay Mamdouh, it includes simple actions in everyday routine of human life, for instance on 30th April, the Green Daily Basic is; Recycle and use recycled products. You'll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle. "These tips are very useful to practice on a daily basis, and not only reading it, our associates also love to practice a new tip every day," said Loay.
Sustainable Business Operations
With the spirit of Environmental Awareness Month, the company pledges its commitment on implementing environmentally responsible business operations. All departments are working hand in hand to reduce energy consumption and formulize programs to decrease waste that affect energy usage and environmental sustainability.
According to Director of Sales Marwan Haddad, the commitment of implementing eco-friendly activities in a profit organization will actually help business operate continuously. It means, if a business organization wishes to survive in the current tough market competition, it must consider environmental solutions to grow the company. Giving an example, Marwan explained, "If we can reduce electricity consumption, it helps us reduce operation cost and cut the selling price, and hence make our products more competitive in the market," said Marwan.
Explaining further about the benefit of considering environmental solutions in business operations, General Manager Marriott Executive Apartments Manama, Bahrain Hossein Garan said, "Although the main reason of these initiatives and practices are to help our environment and the world of tomorrow, there are benefits on cost saving and financial impact. Can you imagine, if every associate strives to save one liter of water per day, what would be the impact on both environment as well as financial."
"On a final note, we are very excited to participate in this global call. Through this campaign, we would like to continually show our commitment to make the world a better place for us and our future generations, raise awareness of environmental issues, and involve our guests and associates in green activities," added Hossein.
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Marriott Executive Apartments, the upscale serviced apartment brand of Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) will nearly double in size in the next 36 months to respond to a growing need in many emerging markets for long-term stay lodging for executive expatriates needing spacious housing and hotel amenities. Including Bahrain, Marriott operates 17 Marriott Executive Apartments in 14 countries outside the U.S., and 14 more hotels are planned in countries such as Qatar, Thailand, Egypt, China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading lodging company with more than 3,200 lodging properties in 71 countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands as well as Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and had approximately 146,000 employees at 2008 year-end. It is recognized by BusinessWeek as one of the 100 best global brands, by FORTUNE® as one of the best companies to work for, and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Partner of the Year since 2004. In fiscal year 2008, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of nearly $13 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com. For an interactive online version of Marriott's 2008 Annual Report, which includes a short video message from Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott, Jr., visit www.marriott.com/investor.
