When guests of Accor's 3,500 hotels in 92 countries reuse towels rather than sending them to the laundry, it helps local farmers plant trees.
The money saved is directed to the group's Plant for the Planet scheme which, since 2008, has seen three million new saplings planted worldwide – around 1,500 a day.
Europe's leading hotel group, whose brands include Sofitel, Novotel and Ibis, Accor has identified a significant link between hotel stays and local farms and forests.
While researching the environmental impact of its business in 2011, it found that 86% of hotel water consumption came from the effects of food consumed by guests.
Its response was to make an existing international tree planting scheme more local, encouraging hotels to form partnerships with nearby farms and communities.
In 2013, the hotel group joined forces with Pur Projet – an expert in developing community forest projects. In the UK, for example, the money saved from reducing towel washing goes straight to Pur Projet which, in association with the Woodland Trust, identifies farms that can most benefit from agro-forestry advice.
The goal is to plant trees in the right places and help farmers enrich the soil, improve water efficiency in crops, boost resilience against drought and reduce flood risk. At the same time, smart planting nurtures pollinating insects and offers farmers an additional source of income from fruit, nuts and timber.
In the UK alone, Accor aims to finance 50 farm projects and plant 200,000 trees by the end of 2015. What is vital, it says, is quality rather than quantity.
Plant for the Planet is part of the group's Planet 21 sustainability strategy which concentrates on reducing emissions, energy, water, pollution and waste. The scheme is thought to be unique to the hospitality sector and is the biggest of its kind in the UK.
Lynn Beavis is part of the wordworks network
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