{the going green "trend"}

I was just recently in Sundance, UT at the Sundance Resort, which is basically houses you rent that are run by the resort. I'm always interested to see what's going on in other parts of the country, and this was a beautiful surprise. The resort is nestled into gorgeous, lush mountains- very earthy, but not crunchy at all. What they do right, that other hotels up to this point still neglect, is their environmental footprint. Now, I'm no hypocrite here, and I certainly don't do all the things I can for the green movement, but I'm slowly and surely getting more on board and implementing the no-brainers into my daily routine. Here are the things the Sundance Resort is doing, and making it easy for their guests to do:

The view from our patio. Just being surrounded by that much nature automatically forces you to think about what our impact is on the environment.
It's difficult to read, but the trash can in the kitchen is separated into 4 units:

cans, plastic, paper, other.

They also provided reuseable shopping bags that had the following info printed on it:

Use this bag twice a week for two years and each bag will SAVE:
- 11 pounds of garbage
-832 plastic bags
- enough petroleum to drive a car 60 miles

And, a note on the bed that read:

PLEASE HELP US PROTECT OUR WATER RESOURCES!

In an effort to reduce wastewater and detergent, bed sheets are customarily changed at departure. However, if you would like your sheets changed during your stay, please leave this card on your pillow in the morning and your sheets will be changed that day.

We encourage you to consider making water conservation a part of your Sundance experience.

As a retail store owner, it is a challenge to leave a light footprint. The packaging it takes to ship a table or chair can get a bit out of hand. It is a problem that I don't have a solution for, but I don't work with many vendors that use "popcorn" anymore. Being so close to the beach, it inevitably blew around the street or the garbage men would spill it, and I had nightmares of it being blown into the ocean and it being my fault. We are currently switching to the new lightbulbs. That may sound like nothing, but you wouldn't believe how many lamps and lights are on 8 hours a day, everyday, at my store. Here are the other things Sur La Mer is doing, and no, going Green is not a "trend". If I hear one more politician say that...

WHAT SUR LA MER DOES DAILY:

- we "just say no" to vendors that pack in non-recyclable popcorn

- we are switching to the new lightbulbs

-we offer a 5% discount to anyone who purchases something and brings their own bag

- we recycle all our boxes and paper goods

-we NEVER use plastic bags

-we sell a line of bags that customers can use at the grocery store to eliminate the use of plastic bags

-we use earth friendly cleaning products

-we were one of the first design stores in our area to buy from vendors that use sustainable woods, reclaimed teak, and non-toxic stains