Marriott Vacation Club Timeshare is Leading the Way on Green Initiatives

In yesterday’s, The Timeshare Authority blog, we talked about how the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) has recognized the environmentally conscious efforts of many of its timeshare resort industry and branded hospitality provider members. (See: Timeshare Resorts Getting Greener and Greener). Today we’ll look at one of the environmentally responsible initiatives of Marriott Vacation Club timeshare.

As Howard Nusbaum, president and CEO of ARDA, explains, “It’s one thing to recycle at your resort or participate in a clean-up once in a while. But it’s quite another to develop and carry out the major initiatives that our members have done.  It’s a real model for other industries.”

Marriott Vacation Club Timeshare is Helping to Clean the World

For example, Marriott Vacation Club has partnered with “Clean the World,” a non-profit organization that recycles partially used bars of soap and bottled amenities from resorts in the United States, and after sanitizing them, then distributes the new soap and hygiene kits to communities in need. Recognizing that daily, 9,000 children worldwide die from diseases such as acute respiratory illness and diarrheal illness, which might have been prevented if only those children had soap and shampoo with which to bathe and wash their hands.

Since becoming involved in Clean the World, Marriott Vacation Club timeshare resales and resorts have contributed more than 13,300 pounds of soap and 8,840 pounds of bottled amenities, which have yielded over 71,000 clean bars of soap and hygiene kits have been distributed to 55 countries.

And while the impact of the recycling effort at each Marriott timeshare resort is incredible in terms of health and enhanced living for all the people impacted by the company’s commitment, it is also important to note that 11 tons of waste have been diverted from landfills as part of the Clean the World effort.

In fact, the work of Marriott Vacation Club with Clean the World has even earned Marriott a spot as a Guinness World Record holder. In a single eight-week campaign, 500 Marriott Vacation Club Owner Services associates based in Salt Lake City, Utah turned in a cumulative donation of 16,918 bars of new soap. This donation, weighed in at 900 pounds, and set a new record in the category of “Most of One Hygiene Item,” which currently stood at 10,000 pieces.

But if you think this where our account of green, green, green timeshare resorts end, you may be surprised to learn that we are only getting started. Keep coming back to The Timeshare Authority blog this week, where we will continue to share the stories.

You can learn more about Clean the World on their website at: www.cleantheworld.com