Wyndham Worldwide has reduced its carbon emissions by 12 percent per square foot versus its carbon footprint in 2011, according to its recently released sustainability report. This accomplishment is part of the company’s goal to reduce its carbon emissions by 16 percent by 2016 and by 20 percent by 2020.
“Advancing sustainability best practices remains among our top priorities not only because it’s good for the environment but because it’s also good for business,” says Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide. “This latest milestone of meaningfully reducing our carbon footprint is the result of collaboration across our organization, including our associates, suppliers, customers, and business partners, who together continue to develop ideas with incredible potential and transform them into tangible results.”
In addition to reducing carbon emissions, Wyndham Worldwide is also working to decrease its water usage by 20 percent per square foot by 2020. The usage per square foot reflects a 1.7 percent improvement over 2011 and a five percent improvement over the 2010 baseline.
In 2012, the company assisted in the development of a standard method for calculating carbon usage for hotels and resorts, and it also launched the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative with more than 20 other hotel chains, the International Tourism Partnership, and the World Travel & Tourism Council. Wyndham also developed a program that converted 46 percent of the direct mail circulation from RCI North America-a part of the Wyndham Exchange & Rentals business unit-to email format from 2007-2012. This reduced mailings by more than 8 million units and equals a carbon reduction of more than 441,000 pounds.
In growing the Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO) Green Certification Program, the company has tracked 27 requirements in green categories-including energy use, water use, waste reduction, indoor air quality, and education. In 2012, 63 percent of WVO resorts (133 properties) earned the Basic, Silver, Gold, or Crystal achievement levels. In 2013, WVO anticipates 160 properties will be certified.
By supporting the Arbor Day Foundation and its spring planting projects, Wyndham helped repair forestlands lost to fires that burned the seed source for future forests. More than 170,000 longleaf pine, Jack pine, ponderosa pine, western larch, Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, and grand fir trees were planted.
Lastly, the company continued expanding its green supply chain. Twenty-five percent of the total $1.2 billion spent in 2012 was with suppliers who met the Wyndham Green Supplier criteria, a 9 percent increase from 2011.
