White Plains, NY, April 1, 2010 – You can now whip out the plastic to pay for a night at Element Hotels. Just make sure it’s recyclable.
Guests who bring in ten single-use plastic bottles – and book Element’s “I Am Not a Plastic Package” – will get a free night over Earth Day Weekend, April 22-25. Element is the new eco-chic boutique brand from Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT).
The “I Am Not a Plastic Package” is limited to the first one hundred guests who book by calling 1.877.ELEMENT and referencing promotion code “GOGREEN” starting April 5. Element hotels are currently open in Lexington, MA, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Denver, Dallas, Houston and Ewing, NJ. The trailblazing in eco-conscious hospitality will continue with the opening of Element Times Square in October 2010 and the opening of Element Omaha one month later.
“We thought this would be a fun, timely way to engage guests on recycling, which has been in practice at Element from day one,” said Brian McGuinness, Senior Vice President, Specialty-Select Brands, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “Element guests keep telling us they want to take an active role in our efforts around environmental responsibility, and this is a very rewarding way for them to do it.”
Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour, yet only one bottle out of four is recycled. The rest end up in landfills or incinerators. Recycling plastic bottles plays a critical role in protecting the environment; when buried, some plastic material may last for 700 years. Although they account for only eight percent of the waste by weight, plastics occupy about 20 percent of the volume in a landfill due to their low bulk density. ”Plastic Facts”, Northern Illinois University, http://www3.niu.edu/recycling/alum_facts/page4.html
To help guests use fewer bottles all year, Element will also offer a complimentary reusable water bottle at check-in as part of the “I Am Not a Plastic Package”.
