GUWonder

RoxyMountain

I agree, I think straws are stupid. Always have.

Of course straws are just one example. The fact is the public overwhelmingly supports the effort to reduce the use of single use plastics. There is a small, vocal, minority that complains but most people move forward.

Visconti

My entire life, except for a very few exceptions, have always preferred to drink without a straw. The few times I do use a straw are when I drink milkshakes or the Starbucks Frapp stuff. Not sure about anyone else, but when I try to drink a frozen drink too fast, you get that brain freeze (is that the term?), which feels like a heart attack where I could die in the next five minutes. So, I've just stopped drinking Milkshakes, Starbucks Frapps and frozen drinks altogether. No problem.

Admittedly, until reading this thread, I didn't have any thoughts on this eliminating single use stuff. If I recall, the F showers at CX HKG's lounges were all Aesop non-single use, which I had never given a second thought to. But, after reading this thread, I had no idea there were all these potential concerns! I suppose, if this is an issue, just stay with hotels that still offer single-use stuff?

Or, until as Roxy alludes to, this becomes a universal thing.

C17PSGR

The reality is that a lot of people think things like "I support water conservation" but also think "I can believe this hotel has a shower with such low water pressure."

But while I'm confident that the increased labor cost associated with maintaining larger bottles will outweigh the cost savings from small plastic bottles, I'm having a hard time seeing any downside with having soap dispensers rather little bottles.

cmd320

As often? Perhaps not, however I'm sure Marriott could draw up a lovely statistic about how many millions of tons of plastic would be saved each year if they were to switch away from Fresh Bites and back to reusable china and cutlery. This is how marketing works.

Is fantastic that Marriott's marketing team has made you believe this is some great environmentally friendly step and that a billion baby sea turtles will be saved in this process (that's their job), however the only change you're going to see is a slight uptick in profit on the annual report and just a little extra bonus going into Arne's pocket at the end of the fiscal year.

RoxyMountain

Their marketing isn't working as I have never even heard of Fresh bites.

My position has zero to do with Marriott marketing. For decades I have thought those tiny bottles were wasteful. It is nice to see them being replaced and the vast majority of people agree with me. You are welcome to complain as much as you like but it will have little affect, the world is moving on.

cmd320

You must not stay at many FS mid-tier properties. However I wasn’t referring to the marketing of Fresh Bites rather the ‘green’ marketing.

At any rate, it doesn’t change much for me as I hate the new Marriott products and will continue to bring my own minis when staying at those properties. At the higher end properties not participating in this devaluation, that obviously won’t be necessary. The point is though, anyone thinking Marriott is making this change because they want to be more environmentally friendly is naive. This is typical corporate cost-cutting.

RoxyMountain

Consumers overwhelmingly support efforts to reduce single use plastic use. Companies across the globe are making efforts to reduce single use plastic. Governments across the globe are passing laws and regulations designed to reduce single use plastic.

Anyone thinking Marriott is making this change just because it might reduce costs is naive

cmd320

I disagree.

RoxyMountain

Marriott estimates that, when the transition is complete, it will prevent around 500 million small bottles, or 1.7 million pounds of plastic, from entering landfills every year. ^ That is hardly a drop in the bucket.

IHG and Hilton have started similar initiatives. This trend is not going away.

Visconti

One of the few times I've read an entire thread, and found the arguments on both sides extremely compelling. Will likely never look at a large shared soap/shampoo dispenser again.

By the way, do they sell Jo Malone "minis"?

Badenoch

Not only because it might reduce costs but it allows them to virtue signal, issue self-congratulatory press releases and appeal to climate change glitterati who demand higher fuel costs for the poor while hopscotching around the globe to attend conferences in private luxury aircraft.

RoxyMountain

Shampoo bottles. We are talking about shampoo bottles. 500 million small bottles each year. 1.7 million pounds of plastic. It seems that some want this to be about some vast global brain wash conspiracy but it really is about massive piles shampoo bottles.

Badenoch

Then count me among the self-congratulating, virtue-signaling, vanguard of environmental activism. I don't use the shampoo or conditioner bottles in hotel rooms. Instead I buy the largest shampoo bottles of my preferred brand and painstakingly (sarcasm) transfer to reusable (yay me!) bottles that meet CATSA/TSA liquid requirements. Am I now awesome? Can I drop by Kensington Palace and have brunch with Harry and Meghan or will they be taking the private jet to Ibiza for the weekend?

RoxyMountain

Let us know how that works out for you.

As I have said, for years I saw those little bottles as wasteful and inefficient. My view had nothing to do with "virtue-signaling" (whatever that is), Celebrities, Royalty, Marriott marketing department, or private jets. Just the simple fact that there are more efficient, less wasteful, ways to deliver shampoo.