Ritz-Carlton Moving to &”Green&” Bottles

Ritz Carlton’s U.S. and Caribbean hotels (which account for 40 of the chain’s 73 hotels) will stop offering plastic water bottles and will switch to plant-based, biodegradable material for their hotel branded water bottles.  This move towards using an environmentally much friendlier material for water bottles is thought to be the first among hotel chains.

The new bottles are made totally from plants and being all natural can decompose in 30 days in a commercial composting facility.  Alternatively these “green” bottles can be reprocessed and 100 percent remade into new bottles.  The benefits are many including that making one new bottle uses half the fossil fuels of a traditional plastic water bottle, as well as 45 percent less energy, and generates 75 percent less greenhouse gases. The bottles hold water normally without fear they will decompose in front of you or while in the refrigerator.

Lest anyone think that this is largely an empty gesture, Ritz Carlton distributes five million 16 oz. water bottles per year, according to the Marriott owned brand. The positive environmental implications could increase dramatically if all Marriot hotels follow Ritz Carlton’s lead.

Other chains cannot dismiss switching to environmentally friendly water bottles based on cost concerns, since Marriott has announced that the new bottles will cost the same as the old water bottles. Ultimately, the cost of such bottles will likely be lowered as they become more common. As with many environmental advances, the initial cost is a reason for concern, but once they become the standard, many times the price comes down to equal or even lower than the item they replace.

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