Antlers at Vail, Condominiums and Conference Center

There’s a lot of buzz in the ether about “going green” lately. Oprah did a show on it and showed it twice in the span of a few months. I happened to catch it both times and, both times I found it very interesting.The first time I watched, I accepted the show’s challenge to change just one thing that I do to make an environmental impact. That day, I started turning off the water while I brush my teeth (Which saves 4 gallons a minute. That’s 200 gallons a week for a family of four.) This time, I feel ready to make a couple of more changes.It is easy to get overwhelmed because there are a lot of statistics out there about how much water and energy it takes to make this or that and about how petroleum (i.e. oil and fossil fuels) is burned for the energy to make packaging for products like liquid body wash. That tears it! I’m switching to bar soap in my shower. It’s kind of exciting because now I can shop for fancy bars of soap and display them in my bathroom (if I can find space). I like these at Etsy from Dennis Anderson. I would also like to try switching to eco-friendly grocery bags. Up until now, I’ve been getting plastic bags at the store and saving them (in empty Kleenex boxes – thanks to Amanda) to use as waste basket liners. You can get a whole grocery shopping set for under sixty dollars at Eco Bags. Even though it’s just a small start, I feel like I’m really making a difference. The Antlers is up for a Green Business of the Year Award right now, too! Wish us luck.

Evelyn and I recently went to a program put on by the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability. Matt Scherr runs that organization and what a saint he his … talk about good karma. This particular program had three different developers speaking, but each with an eye towards sutainable communities, both environmentally as well as socially. Jonathan Robert, the guy from McStain homes, in Denver was great. I didn’t realize how many cool things that company does in their home building efforts. He referred to some of it as “good weird” which was fitting. Stuff like giving away a year’s worth of wind energy credits and a Vespa when you buy one of their homes, rather than the traditional discount on closing fees, or whatever.There was also a guy who called himself Farmer John (don’t remember his real last name) but he’s hoping to develop a subdivision near Buena Vist with it’s on self-sustaining farm. Pretty bold. All in all the program was great and it made me proud to be alligned with them. Now that we’re a finalist for the Green Business of the Year in the Vail Valley, it’s even more gratifying to work together. We host their speakers on a comp basis whenever necessary and for that they call us the “Official Hotel of EVAS”. It’s all fun.Rob