Kyle here, contacting you on behalf of the Monitor Group. Been following your sustainability column closely for some time now and was especially interested in your piece on Marriot International and the government of the Amazonas yesterday.

It’s a truly fascinating relationship that shows true business innovation from Marriot International. One of the key points that you made on yesterday’s partnership (in your blog post that discussed your column) was that Marriot International wouldn’t have pursued the environmental initiative if it didn’t make bottom line business sense.

In looking past the obvious PR value that you mentioned – it does. The environmental groups that they are trying to attract are already a large demographic and the overall group of green-savvy consumers will continue to grow over the next decade.

More importantly it has core business value. Sustainability has become a crucial element of business strategy as the pace of corporate-wide recognition has accelerated. Consumers and businesses are beginning to factor in “green” to their purchases which has led companies to ask how they can properly address sustainability. In addition, other key stakeholders, including employees and shareholders, are taking into account companies’ positions on sustainability in the decisions they make.

These issues are increasingly affecting multiple components of businesses including the ability to attract sales, talent and capital. The “Wal-Mart Effect”, which you’ve addressed, (i.e. responsibility for products before / during production and after purchase) has accelerated a change in business models for corporations like Marriot International and gives them a greater opportunity to innovate within and create sustainable solutions for their customers.

You also pointed out in your blog posting that Marriot International has a broader effort in place to measure and reduce its environmental footprint. This is another important area where corporations often miscalculate their efforts. Looking solely at the carbon footprint of a company doesn’t give a comprehensive look at the environmental impact of a company.

Businesses need to utilize comprehensive diagnostics to understand their clear environmental footprint and be transparent with their findings (Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles being the best example). By looking in-depth at the entire supply chain, businesses can asses where their greatest environmental impact is – and where the greatest opportunity exists.

I’d love to chat further with you about this topic as well as connect you with the folks from Monitor to discuss in more detail.