Mom and Dad were Right – We Shouldn’t Waste Food

So many people waste food. I'm guilty of it too.

It's not a trivial thing. Consider this, about 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted each year around the world - four times the amount needed to feed the more than 800 million people who are malnourished, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Food waste accounts for about 8 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, which means food waste's contributions to global warming is almost equal to global road transport emissions, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization.

Our properties around the world are seeing the same trend. Food waste accounts for more than 60 percent of the waste in our average hotel that has a restaurant. And we operate more than 10,000 restaurants around the world.

We recognized the impact of food waste on the environment years ago. In 2017, we were the first hotel company to set a food waste reduction goal -- 50 percent by 2025. It was abundantly clear then and still is that the travel industry has an impact on the environment. We have a responsibility - and plans -- to continually improve the way we operate our hotels and contribute to the communities in which we live and work. We want it, and our leisure and corporate customers want it as well.