Guaranteed green in Las Vegas

by Annie Scott on

You may hope to find a lot of green in Las Vegas, and there’s one way to ensure you can at least say your stay involved a lot of green: stay –and play — in an eco-friendly hotel and casino.

Harrah’s Entertainment (parent company to Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Bally’s, Rio), has recently upped their green cache by implementing their trademarked “CodeGreen” — which involves energy reduction efforts, community outreach, and finding new ways to conserve water, including converting turf to xeriscape (what?) and encouraging guests to reuse towels and linens. They also removed 600,000 square feet of grass from the Rio Secco golf course, which saves a lot of watering (reportedly 23 million gallons), and upgraded their laundry facility to handle more volume with less water.

They’re also filtering their own water in their restaurants, and serving it in reusable glass bottles — but only if you request it. According to the Las Vegas Sun, “The authority estimates that as much as three gallons of water is saved with every glass of water it doesn’t wastefully deliver. To serve a glass of water, whether or not it’s consumed, requires cleaning the glass, delivery of the water and the water itself.”

So, if you’re looking to feel less guilty while out there indulging your guilty pleasures, head for Harrah’s — and don’t ask for that water if you’re not gonna drink it!

Sustainble Farming Program in Uganda Offers Hope and Help

by Kendra Bailey Morris on

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) in Uganda is well-known throughout the world as the home for nearly half of the world’s population of critically endangered mountain gorillas. However, gorillas are no longer the only entity on Uganda’s endangered list. Bwindi’s local people have also felt the brunt of years of illegal logging and other activities which have slowly degraded the area.

Fortunately, the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was established as a national park in 1991, and was initially designed to protect both its treasured gorillas along with its precious and deteriorating forestland, and as of today, the program has been a great success. Yet, while the park itself has benefited from a surge in tourism (thousands of visitors pass through the park every year on pricey gorilla treks), Bwindi locals have not been able to reap much financial benefit from the increased tourism, which in turn, has caused considerable conflict amongst the community.

Much of this socioeconomic dichotomy has been contributed to revenue loss due to the procurement of food products designed for local lodges and restaurants coming from outside the area (as far as a ten hour drive away). Considering the most common livelihood for locals is subsistence farming, and that the area’s soil is extremely fertile, developing a farmer’s association where locals could gain cash income by supplying fruits, vegetables and other products to a growing tourism industry seemed a natural solution.

Thus, the Bwindi Advanced Market Grower’s Association (AMAGARA, which means ‘life”, in the local language Rukiga) was born, and it has been evolving ever since.

Situated only four kilometers from the BINP gate, visitors can get a firsthand glimpse at the association’s gardens, which boasts everything from fiery red chili’s to sweet honey (harvested from their own bee hives). Guests of AMAGARA can take a personal tour led by on-site team members which offers education on how the association operates and how a wide range of growing techniques are taught to local farmers. Cooking classes featuring the traditional cuisine of Uganda are also offered daily, and are led by the institute’s professionally trained chef, Moses, who shares his personal recipes and cooking tips, including a few rather interesting twists on classic dishes.

An on-site garden shop sells a wide selection of gifts including packaged honey and tea from Bwindi. Purchases from the garden shop directly support the work of AMAGARA as well as that of the local community.

For traveler’s looking for a complete African Mountain Gorilla safari, Volcano Safaris, a company that specializes in great ape ecotourism and who is a well-known leader in its industry, has recently partnered with AMAGARA. As part of their gorilla trekking safari, which already includes tracking in the BINP and lodge accommodations, guests can also tack on a visit to AMAGARA when staying at the Volcanoes Bwindi Eco-Lodge. The lodge, which overlooks the forest, features eight bandas and utilizes only local materials and solar energy. Meals are prepared on-site and highlight produce purchased directly from AMAGARA.

–Kendra

Denver’s Queen Anne Bed and Breakfast is eco-chic

by Katie Hammel on

At Denver’s Queen Anne Bed and Breakfast, the mission statement is clear. Comfort, style and luxury can co-exist with sustainable, eco-friendly practices. And when it comes to green initiatives, Milan Doshi, the b&b’s owner, seems to have thought of everything. The bedding, the paint, the food, the labor – every aspect of the b&b was specifically chosen to be as green as possible.

According to the Denver Post, Doshi bought the hotel in summer of 2008 and immediately began a massive renovation. New floors, from Sustainable Floors in Boulder, were made of compressed leftover wood fibers and installed. Eco-friendly Keesta mattresses, made of recycled metal coils and memory foam infused with green tea extracts, were put in the bedrooms. The walls were covered in eco-friendly low VOC paints. And a heavy wooden table, made of a material called Italian ebony (also made of leftover wood fibers) was selected as the dining room centerpiece. It’s the place where Colorado Allegro coffee is served with a locally-sourced organic breakfast each day (many of the herbs and veggies are pulled from the b&b garden), and where Colorado wines and cheeses are served each evening at happy hour.

Doshi used local products whenever possible and even went so far as to make sure the labor he used was local too. All of the contractors and some of the suppliers he worked with were found within a 10-mile radius. Local craftsmen carved the oak platform beds, and small plastic bottles of toiletries have been replaced with bulk dispensers (which eliminate waste and reduce trash) from Colorado-based Jason Organics.

The green bonanza doesn’t stop there. The linens on the beds are organic cotton; all cleaning products used are 100% natural, biodegradable, and dye-free; paper products are recycled, biodegradable, unbleached and dye-free; only glass drinking cups are used; and the shower heads and toilets have had low-flow adapters installed. The b&b even requires the dry cleaners they work with to recycle their hangers and plastic, and provides free bikes for guest transportation.

Doshi hopes that in the near future, the Queen Anne Bed and Breakfast will be the nation’s first LEED certified bed and breakfast. He’d also like to see the b&b certified as “cradle-to-cradle”, meaning that it creates no pollution and nothing is wasted in its operation. To that end, he has big plans for additional green features, such as a system that could convert used sink water into toilet water.

So, all these green features are great, but if the property doesn’t stack up to it’s less-green counterparts, who would want to stay there? Well luckily, the Queen Anne does measure up. Of the 15 TripAdvisor reviews written since Doshi took over (there are an additional 45 written about the previous incarnation of the b&b), 14 rate it 5-stars. The other one knocked it down to 4-stars. Guests all agree that the staff are helpful and friendly, the rooms are beautiful and comfortable, and the food is fresh and delicious. The location, about a 10-minute walk from downtown, is ideal as well. It seems to me that you really can’t ask for more in a bed and breakfast.

Of course, for a frugal traveler, price is an important consideration too. Some of the more ornate or larger of the 14 rooms, which feature king beds, whirlpool tubs, log fireplaces or cathedral ceilings, go for $175 to $215 per night. But four rooms also cost $145 or $165, and the Oak Room, with it’s deep pedestal tub and original pull-chain commode, is just $135 a night. It’s good to know that you can go green, and still save a little green at the same time.

Chicago’s Talbott Hotel — Historic and green

by Annie Scott on

Progress is being made. An eco-friendly hotel used to mean a sparse, mildly uncomfortable place to “rough it” and feel superior, but bit by bit, things are changing. By now, you probably know that you don’t have to sacrifice luxury for eco-friendliness when hotel shopping anymore; even the big chains are stepping up with green initiatives. One thing most people do expect to sacrifice though? History.

With all the renovating it takes to make a hotel greener, in many cases, it would be easier to just tear down the old hotel and build a new one in its place — we’re talking replacing lighting, heating, cooling and water systems, and even the materials in the rooms (like sustainable fabrics and ethically-obtained furniture and surfaces). One hotel that greened up and is still standing is Chicago’s historic Talbott Hotel, which sets a great example for accommodations looking to shrink their carbon footprint without starting from square one.

The Talbott Hotel was built in 1927 and includes 16 luxurious floors just steps away from Michigan Avenue in the Gold Coast Historic District of Chicago. It’s surrounded by numerous buildings which popped up just after the Great Chicago Fire. The hotel includes 24 hour room service, a seasonal outdoor cafe, a relaxing lobby bar, complimentary access to a 30,000 square foot Equinox, turn-down service and a morning newspaper. But more importantly, it’s gone green.

In November 2008, the 80+ year old Talbott Hotel became one of the first Green Seal certified hotels in the United States. They call their approach “Sustainability Without Compromise,” and their renovations included “investing in waste management, energy efficiency, water conservation, wastewater management and green procurement procedures.” In their day-to-day operations, not only are they recycling, using biodegradable products, and donating partially-used amenities to charity, but they also purchase wind energy credits to offset their carbon footprint 100 percent.

“As evidenced by our service and other operational areas, we put 110 percent into everything we do,” says General Manager Troy Strand. “We are fully committed to the sustainability of our city and are thrilled we have been recognized for doing so.”

So, if you want to stay in a luxury boutique hotel and know that you’re doing good for the environment — without even feeling it — check in to the Talbott Hotel next time you pass through Chicago. Rates start at $159 (for mid-week August at time of writing) and include a free breakfast if you book online.

For more green hotel practices, check out Katie Hammel’s “How green is your hotel?” from last week.

Road testing the KOR ONE water bottle

by Grant Martin on

As part of Gadling’s Green month it’s part of our responsibility to test out all things green, from the new green hotels down the street to green travel destinations to new green materials and gear.

It’s been a long time coming, but recently we had the opportunity to test out KOR’s new ONE water bottles, a slick series of thin, versatile containers with an eco-conscious ethos. Constructed out of BPA-free Eastman Tritan, the bottles are lightweight, strong and sexy, with a hinged opening at the top instead of the more common, screw lids.

In today’s Nalgene-dominated market, the design is a head turner for sure. Every where we take this bottle we get compliments on it, from the frisbee field to the farmer’s market to the deli, and we’re in a constant state of explaining where we got our snazzy, space-ship bottle.

Functionally, the design is solid, with an opening wide enough for plenty of ice cubes, a strong hinge that hasn’t failed us yet and a strong construct that has survived many a fall. Our only complaint is that we can’t fit a regular scrub brush all of the way to the bottom of the container. Ah, but that’s what potassium metabisulfite is for.

The best part about owning a KOR water bottle, however, is their commitment to the environment. Each color that is sold is associated with a water-centric charity, from The Wetlands Initiative for Watershed Green to The Blue Planet Run Foundation for Orchid Pink. Part of the proceeds from each $30 water bottle sale will go to each charity.

You can read more about KOR and pick up one of their bottles over at korwater.com. If you can afford the $30 pricetag, it’s definitely worth the investment if only for the compliments.