Monthly Archives: October 2008

The shear nature of hotels and conferences produces waste.  From the mini shampoo bottles and plastic name tags, to the copious number of drinking straws, to the endless paper brochures and maps; if you have that many people together in one place, you’re bound to produce some garbage.  The last thing I expected to find in this land of extravagance was a full-blown recycling program.

When I first arrived at the hotel at Mandalay Bay, my keen, green eye caught sight of a recycling poster advertising that all of the hotel garbage cans were sorted forrecycling. “Hmmm,” I thought (ever cynical), “I wonder what they mean by ‘recycling'” as I pictured someone fishing a couple of beer bottles out of the can and leaving the rest for the landfill. Continue reading →

I’ve written before about how one of the best ways to buy veggies without packaging is to get them locally.  And nothing is more local than growing them yourself.

Not all of us have the luxury of garden space, so I try to make the most of the backyard that I have.   Yup, that’s my little garden to the left in spring and then in summer (the wire mesh is to keep the cats out).  I’m down to kale, tomatoes and zucchini at this point, but the herbs are still going strong, and hopefully lots of them will make it through the winter.  This is about the time when I pack it in, lay out some mulch and wait for next spring to plant again.  But not everyone. Continue reading →