On 15 April 2011, more than 160 Accor hotels around the UK will mark their commitment to social and environmental projects, with events and activities in celebration of the hotel group's fifth annual Earth Guest Day.
Earth Guest Day was created by Accor in observance of International Earth Day and as an annual celebration of the hotel group's Earth Guest Programme, which has been running since 2006 and is based on eight social and environmental priorities:
Contributing to local development
Protecting children
Fighting against epidemics
Promoting balanced food
Managing energy consumption
Conserving water
Producing less waste
Protecting biodiversity
On Earth Guest Day 2011, Accor hotels around the UK will plant trees in parks, gardens, schools and other open spaces to highlight the Fruits for Children campaign of its nominated charity Plan UK and Accor's global campaign, Plant for the Planet.
Fruits for Children is a project to improve the nutrition of 4,000 school children from 8 schools in the Machakos district of Kenya through planting fruit trees to provide a steady year-round supply of nutritious fruits to improve their diet.
The project also aims to develop children's knowledge of their environment, and their skills and techniques in fruit production, improving their standards of living as the acquired skills are transferred to their families and communities. The trees also help to reduce the problem of soil erosion and the fruits produced provide a source of income for the participating schools.
To date Accor employees in the UK have raised more than £100,000 for the charity as part of the company's commitment to sustainable development through its Earth Guest Programme.
The Plant for the Planet project was introduced by Accor in 2009 and to date has financed the planting of 1.7 million trees in reforestation projects around the world, with Accor hotels in the UK responsible for donating 30,000 trees last year alone. The principle is simple: for every 5 bath towels re-used by guests, one tree is planted. This year Accor in the UK aims to increase its commitment still further and has set itself a target of funding the planting of over 50,000 trees.
Throughout April, Accor employees in more than 90 countries around the world will be involved in activities in support of Earth Guest Day.
