Marriott International, Inc. is making strides to become greener and eco-friendly. If you book a group meeting at a Marriott between July 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009, the hotel will contribute funds to protect the endangered Brazilian Amazonas rainforest. The dollar amount is equal to five percent of the total cost of the group's guest rooms. The Marriott is also providing green meetings through the unveiling of eco-friendly green products and services that will help groups save water and energy, reduce waste and recycle while staying at the Marriott.  

Len Sauers, P&G's VP of sustainability had an email interview with Brandweek editor Todd Wasserman about Proctor & Gamble's green initiatives and future green goals. One of the most impressive goals put forth by P&G is the plan to cut  it's carbon footprint by 40% by 2012. The majority of the reduction will come from reducing the size of packaging. A perfect example is P&G's laundry detergent packaging which is now half the size it was two years ago but still provides the same number of loads. 

Over the last few years, The Hotel Carlton in San Francisco has celebrated several initiatives that have lead to its official Green Business certification but now this luxurious hotel is embarking on something new. The Hotel is committed to offsetting it's energy use through solar power. Hotel Carlton is the first hotel in San Francisco to install solar panels - it partnered with Sunlight Electric, to install 104 solar panels that cover 1,332 square feet of the hotel's roof. The Hotel estimates that the solar panels will reduce the hotel's electricity usage by 12 percent. And, guests will be able to view the total kilowatt energy generated by the solar power system through a computer monitor stationed at the front desk.