Environment & Energy | Saturday 28 March, 2015 10:31 pm |

On Saturday, March 28th at 8:30pm local time, The Ritz-Carlton hotels, resorts, clubs and residences around the world will proudly support Earth Hour by switching off non-essential lighting in key areas of the property. Founded by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), Earth Hour is the single largest, symbolic mass-participation event in the world, inspiring a global community of millions of people across 162 countries and territories to switch off lights. Taking place annually, Earth Hour brings attention to sustainability issues on our planet and how each of us as individuals or organizations can make a difference.

This year and for the fourth year in a row, The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh will be turning off its lights on March 28th in support of Earth Hour. As part of the Ritz-Carlton’s environmental responsibility program, Community Footprints, lights across the property will be turned off for an hour at 8.30 pm and replaced with 60 square meters of sublime radiance of candle light displaying the planet Earth.
“Earth Hour is a great opportunity to participate in a global initiative and bring to the attention of our guests the sustainability issues which life on our planet is facing. This year for Earth Hour we chose to collaborate with a young Saudi artist who will be constructing a breathtaking display to demonstrate our commitment at The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh to this very important cause” commented Adel Al Mahboob, General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh.
The enormous 60 square meters candle light display of the globe in the hotel’s driveway will be constructed by Saudi artist Wael AlSubaeiyel. Wael recently stunned Saudi audiences with an extraordinary portrait of the recently crowned King Salman bin Abdulaziz which he made mainly of Nesspresso capsules, in addition to other different materials like, coffee beans, coffee cups and sugar.

“At The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, we are committed to working towards a more sustainable future, by preserving natural resources and minimizing our impact on the environment,” comments Sue Stephenson, vice president, Community Footprints for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. “Earth Hour is an outstanding forum for us to exercise this commitment and help raise awareness for the importance of environmental responsibility around the globe.”

Participating in Earth Hour aligns with Community Footprints, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s social and environmental responsibility program, and its guiding principles to engage, contribute and inspire. Environmental responsibility is a key pillar of the program, implemented by each property’s Ritz-Carlton Environmental Action Conservation Team (REACT), with a global strategy including water and energy conservation programs, recycling initiatives, sourcing environmentally preferred products, and increasing organic and locally sourced dining and spa options.

We invite you to follow @RitzCarltonCSR on Twitter to experience the Earth Hour activities at our hotels, clubs and residences as they take place around the world. For more information please vist www.ritzcarlton.com/communityfootprints.