subject: Who Has Environmentally Green Thumbs? [print this page] The Arctic isn't getting greenerThe Arctic isn't getting greener. A joint report by the UK-based Catlin Arctic Survey and the World Wildlife Fund said Arctic summer ice cover will be gone within 20 years. The thickness of a 450-kilometer stretch of ice floes averaged 1.8 meters - too thin to survive next summer's melt. The ice was primarily first-year ice - not the traditionally much older, thicker ice. Scientists expect this change in ice cover to increase global warming and face polar bears with extinction. They refer to Arctic ice as the planet's roof - which makes lawmakers who are indecisive about climate change "fiddlers on the roof".
San Francisco, however, is greener. As of October 21, 2009 it's against the law to put food scraps in the garbage. In the first, U.S. program of its kind, residents are required to put food waste into sealed compost bins. Garbage trucks pick up the food waste and take it to the Organic Annex, where it's turned into compost and sold to area farms and vineyards. Presently San Francisco keeps 72% of its trash out of the landfill by recycling cans, bottles, construction material and cooking oil. The goal is to have zero waste by 2020 - allowing little waste of time.
Even the Las Vegas Strip is greener. Harrah's Entertainment, owner of several resort/casinos, has built a multi-resort laundry that reduces water use 30% while increasing capacity 40%. At the Rio it's built a 5-megawatt cogeneration plant that generates electricity for one of the 2 towers. Then there's City Center, MGM Mirage's 67-acre resort. It has a cogeneration plant supplying 10% of needed electricity, with waste heat warming the water supply. Low-flow fixtures cut indoor water use up to 45% and heat-deflecting glass and shades reduce lighting and air-conditioning needs. Money isn't the Strip's only green anymore.
Finally, South Region High School #15 in Los Angeles will be the greenest high school ever built, generating 100% of its electricity. Energy will be conserved through the use of solar panels and 36 wind turbines, working in conjunction with a green, vegetated roof and shaded, operable windows. Not only has the 115,000 square foot structure been insulated and positioned to take advantage of sea breezes and maximum daylight, its design leaves natural areas where only native, California species will be planted. Although the school won't be ready for students until 2012, adults can learn from it now.
