Hotels Go Green = Saving Green

Hotels are starting to figure out that they can use their green efforts as a marketing feature, but I think the real reasons hotels are making changes is they've learning it can save them money.

Last week we stayed at the Westin Ocean Resort Villas North in Ka'anapali Beach, Hawaii (one of those unplanned school auction purchases!). Upon check-in, we were notified that we would be receiving one "tidy" service during our week, but no daily cleaning. I've seen hotels with the signs about leaving your towels hanging if you don't want them changed or placing a card on the bed if you don't want new linens, but once-a-week "tidy" service was new for me. Basically, after three days, they'll come in to change your sheets and towels and take out your garbage. No cleaning at all while you're there (but they do provide a broom and dustpan should your bathroom start to look as sandy as the beach!)


Actually, it was fine with me because I hate having to vacate a room in the morning because the cleaning people are ready to get to work. The funny thing though is that the hotels are pitching this as this big way they're going green, and I'm thinking... yeah, it's definitely saving some green. It is a HUGE savings in labor, water, electricity, and cleaning products.

Saving money is the best motivator for a corporation to go green so I'm not surprised it's the bottom line that's starting to drive changes. Their restaurants and bars also featured new compostable cups. You can see on the cup it says "Made from Corn." Again, I applaud the hotel for their efforts, but in this case, they're only halfway there. The cups are compostable, but the hotel doesn't actually compost them. They still go off to a landfill somewhere for now. Baby steps...

We did like the fact that the hotel offered recycling centers in several locations around the hotel and we took advantage of those. We also tried to do our part to keep the beach clean by picking up the trash and recyclables we found. We found a large bag of cans which I'm guessing someone just forgot to take them home at the end of their party. We took care of the last step so all those cans didn't end up getting swept back into the ocean.

All in all, Hawaii is a beautiful place and as guests on the island, I think we owe it to them to keep it beautiful!

Another New World: Humpback Whales

One of the best parts of Hawaii this time of year is that it is home to thousands of humpback whales who have come to give birth to their calves. You can see them right from the beach and even while driving along the coastal highway (it's best to be the passenger in this case!)

This picture is of a breach that I captured from the beach. I zoomed in on the picture so it's a little fuzzy, but I think it is a baby based on the size and that large dark spot just underneath the whale in the picture. I'm guessing that's the mother - they are about 45 feet long.

I was so intrigued by the whales, I wanted to get out on the water to see them so we went out on whale watching trip on our last day. The pontoon boats are roughly the same size as the adult humpbacks - a fact that was not lost on us when the whale decided to swim under the boat!

Hawaii whale protection guidelines dictate that boats can't approach within 100 yards of the whale, but when they decide to swim towards you, all bets are off. You just kill the motor and sit quietly till their done messing with you!

We didn't witness any breaches or spyhops (that's when they bob up and down in the water - essentially "spying" on their surroundings), but had a long, peaceful visit with a mother, calf, and the two Bottlenose Dolphins that seemed to be spending the afternoon with them.

The whales stay in Hawaii from roughly November to May and once their calves are strong enough they'll swim back to Alaska. Apparently, they mate in Hawaii too because when the whales are back next year there will be another round of calves.

Another New World: Underground Crab Network

You know how you can walk past the same place several times and never notice something and then once you see it, you can't believe how obvious it was?

Last week in Hawaii, my eight-year-old and I went for an early morning walk on the beach. Jetlag seemed to affect each of us differently - he had the I-can't-sleep-past-4am version of it! After a long walk along the sandy beach, I spotted a crab. Just as I pointed it out to my son, the crab ran down a hole. As we waited for him to come out, another one (or him?) popped up from another hole.

Suddenly, we realized the beach was covered with these little holes and tiny little crabs popping in and out of their underground network. We never saw that many crabs or their homes after that, but that morning we must had perfect timing to see them all rising for their morning stroll on the beach. Some quick research tells me most people call them sand crabs and sunset is the best time to spot them - apparently, in our case sunrise worked fine as well.

Most of the holes were tiny (see comparison with size one foot at left), but we had to wonder what kind of crab lived in the one giant hole we found. Look at the regular sized hole at the top and then the one 20x bigger at the bottom. Thankfully, we didn't meet him at the beach!

A Whole New World

Rain forests. Deserts. Mountains. Oceans. Tropics. Our planet seems to have an endless amount of variety. Even within a single country or state you can find all different kinds of landscape.

It's always fun to discover a new part of the planet you've never seen and this week has been a great time of discovery for my family. We're in Hawaii and, while the white sand beaches were my initial focus, we've also found lots of other dramatic landscapes.

Yesterday, we came about as close as you can come to a lunar landscape without leaving the Earth. We visited Haleakala National Park on Maui - at 10,023 feet it is a long way from the sandy beaches! We figured out along the way that it's actually the highest elevation my kids have ever been. After a two mile descent into the crater and the uphill return hike, we all noticed the effects of elevation on our lungs!
We also learned a little about volcanoes while we were there - the Haleakala "crater" is actually made up of many cinder cone volcanoes (which have had eruptions), but the valley is actually the result of erosion by wind, water, and landslides rather than a large eruption.

The other really fun new world we've discovered is underwater. We'll see if those underwater camera pictures develop for a future blog...

What about you? What new landscape is waiting to be discovered in your backyard - a rain forest? high plains desert? a cave? an underwater oasis?

Signs of Spring

It is just the beginning of spring, but already there are signs that winter is over. In my area, we seem to be getting the April showers and May flowers altogether, but I won't complain.


Most of the Farmer's Markets are still closed, but I just learned of a special early spring market

Image by NatalieMaynor via Flickr

in my neighborhood that I'm going to check out. I know many of my readers are in Snohomish County so I'll put in a quick plug for the Everett Community College Farmers Market on Wednesdays through June 2nd. To find one in another area, check out Local Harvest.

Another tip for some of my neighbors interested in fresh, local chicken: A friend of mine is pre-selling her Cornish Cross meat birds this summer and is taking orders now (before she even orders the chicks!) Check out First Hand Food for all the details. We had her first birds last year and they were very tasty.

Oh - and another sign it's Spring... It's April Fool's Day! I sent my boys to school today with sandwiches disguised in Starburst and Skittles jellybean bags. I already got an email from one of their teachers saying my son fell for it. I can imagine the moment when I was the coolest mom in the world for sending him to school with a giant bag of candy. Hmm... I think I better be ready for payback this afternoon!

An Update on the Orcas

The topics of whales in captivity has been covered extensively in the press this past month following the death of a Seaworld trainer in Florida. It raises the question all over again about whether these intelligent animals should actually be in captivity at all.

How intelligent are orcas? Take a look at this video to see how they educate their young. And, don't worry about showing it to kids, it seems gruesome as it is a hunting lesson, but I promise it has a happy outcome.



There was an interesting development in the Seaworld story this week with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) purchasing equity in The Blackstone Group which owns Seaworld. While PETA would usually not involve themselves financially with Seaworld, according to their statement, this gives them the legal right to call for the end of the dolphin and whale shows at Seaworld. They are pushing for the animals to be released to coastal sanctuaries - the best option available to most of them who were either born in captivity or captured to young to be reintroduced to the wild. Of the 42 orcas known to be in captivity, 28 of them are spread amongst Seaworld's four parks.

Look out Seaworld. I wouldn't want PETA as my enemy.

A Show Worth Checking Out

I happened to catch the last half of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on Friday night and thought it was well worth watching. It's a new reality show on ABC and it's all about what our kids eat. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver first set his sights on transforming school lunches in his home of Great Britain and now he's turning to America. Apparently, he is quite convincing because Great Britain has just invested over $1 billion to improve their school lunch program.

Image via Wikipedia

If your kids are in the pizza, burgers, and chicken nuggets stage (whether at home or at school), it's worth checking out. Most shocking was the scene where they show kindergartners a variety of fresh vegetables and ask them to name them. While they could all name french fries in a heartbeat, they looked as if they had never seen a potato! It's sad to see how far processed food has taking us from the raw ingredients.

The show airs Fridays at 9pm. If you want to check out the premier, click the link above.