NEW YORK—In partnership with global music artist and entrepreneur will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company, W Hotels Worldwide, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., has reimagined the brand’s bedding linens with new Ekocycle-branded sheets. Made in part with rPET (polyester partially made using recycled plastic), the sustainable sheets are currently rolling out at W Hotels in North America, with global properties to follow.
“As longtime partners, Starwood and Coca-Cola share a similar vision when it comes to global sustainability and, when we thought about what we could do together, W joining the Ekocycle movement was the perfect choice,” said Sarah Doyle, global brand director of W Hotels Worldwide. “And, once we got to brainstorming, we didn’t need to look much further than the one thing every single guest, whether traveling for work or play, uses—the bed.”
Each king-size sheet set utilizes approximately 31 recycled 20-oz. plastic bottles, which translates to more than 268,000 plastic bottles across all W Hotel beds in North America. W Hotels Worldwide’s goal was to ensure that the sustainable sheets are made using the same high-quality process as the brand’s current bedding, according to Doyle.
“We’ve worked closely with our manufacturer over the past two years to come up with a product that is as luxurious as it is environmentally conscious, and uses the same high-quality process as our current bedding; the only difference is the use of recycled polyester instead of new polyester,” she said. “We worked hard to ensure that guests will continue to have the same incredibly comfortable sleep they have come to expect from a night in a W Hotel bed.”
Since implementing the all-white bed—designed to help housekeeping spot stains and to amplify an aura of purity and freshness, according to W Hotels—in 1998, the contemporary, design-led lifestyle brand has strongly acknowledged the importance of bedding to a comfortable hotel stay.
“The bed is arguably the most important element in a hotel room and is something that travelers are really focused on,” said Doyle. “Our mattress and bedding have been so well received that we offer our signature W Bed and bedding on our online store, WHotels TheStore.com.”
Ekocycle’s partnership with W Hotels furthers Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ sustainability initiative of reducing the company’s environmental impact while sourcing products responsibly, according to Doyle.
“Starwood’s 30/20 by 20 goals reflect our commitment to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30% each and water by 20% by 2020 globally,” said Doyle. “We’re achieving those goals through partnerships and initiatives such as installing high-efficiency LED lighting and low-flow faucets across all of our brands, which is projected to save $1 billion throughout the system in less than 10 years.”
Aside from changing its sheets, W Hotels and the Ekocycle team partnered with Miniwiz, an engineering firm from Taipei, Taiwan, focused on post-consumer recycled material design, to create the Mobile Charger and Accessory Valet (MCAV), a multitasking USB charging device that also acts as a jewelry/watch stand and an alarm clock. The MCAV is partially created out of three recycled plastic bottles and available in six colors—gold, red, hot pink, black, white and silver.
The devices will eventually be featured bedside in W Hotel guestrooms around the world, powering up devices and waking up guests. “We didn’t want to stop with the bed,” said Doyle. “We thought, ‘How else can we add to the guest experience while helping to recycle even more bottles?’”
The concept for Ekocycle was born after will.i.am was inspired to turn waste left behind at a Black Eyed Peas gig into recycled sought-after objects and joined forces with The Coca-Cola Company. Ekocycle now works with global brands to help consumers recognize that items they consider waste today can live on as new lifestyle products they can use tomorrow.
“I am very excited to bring the Ekocycle movement to W Hotel guests around the world,” said will.i.am. “When it comes to finding partners for the Ekocycle initiative, Coca-Cola and I want to work with those who understand our message: Being more sustainable can be stylish. The new Ekocycle sheets and chargers that will now be at W are further proof that we can transform so much of the way we live through more sustainable, recycled materials.”