WASHINGTON — Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International’s eco-friendly, millennial-leaning Element by Westin hotel chain will host what it calls Element Exchange Clothing Swap Pop-ups at its North American hotels Aug. 25.
It is the hotel chain’s contribution to National Secondhand Wardrobe Day.
Element, with 65 locations in North America, says the one-day event will encourage guests and members of local communities to swap, not shop, for their next item of clothing, combating what it calls “the global issue of fashion waste.”
Element properties will work with local recycling partners and shelters. There is only one Washington area Element hotel, the Element Arundel Mills BWI Airport.
Hotels apparently end up with a lot of clothes.
“Clothes are one of the most frequent items purposefully left behind in hotel rooms,” said Marlon Whyte with Element Hotels.
“The Element Exchange helps to limit the huge environmental impact of fashion sustainability by giving guests and locals in our vibrant communities the option to exchange or recycle clothing and offset their carbon footprint,” Whyte said.
Element hotels also will install permanent donation and recycling points at all of its North American properties.
The Environmental Protection Agency says 85 percent of all discarded clothing — 13 million tons of it — ends up in U.S. landfills every year.
