Vickie Hann, HR Director at the Hilton Arlington near my old stomping grounds of Washington D.C., contacted me to share the great work her hotel is doing around the Earth Charter, an international people’s treaty for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21^st century.

At the Hilton Arlington, an Earth Charter Steering Committee has been established to work in collaboration with the General Manager, Mark Driscoll, in developing a 5 year capital plan to make the hotel 100% sustainable.  The hotel will actively engage the expertise and consultation of other environmental, conservation and preservation organizations, associations, alliances, and groups to guide them in this process.  Each hotel departmental manager will take charge in establishing and maintaining sustainable practices and will actively engage in securing products and services partnering with sustainable, environmentally-friendly vendors.

To further support the Earth Charter, the Hilton Arlington has sent out introductory letters and accompanying information about the Earth Charter to 450 neighboring organizations, associations, businesses, interest groups, elementary schools, colleges, universities, and ministries.  The hotel is planning and sponsoring several projects in the community including food drives for the homeless shelters and other organizations, clothing and pet food drives, recycling programs, community clean up days, and other volunteer days to local community organizations dedicated to assisting and supporting the community. 

Organizations like the Hilton Arlington are pioneering the effort to incorporate environmental preservation into everyday life and business.  Somehow they’re managing to do it while still turning a profit, and we should all look for ways to follow their example.