Las Vegas is Going Green with Personal Electric Vehicle Charging Station on the Strip

MGM Resorts International debuted the first Electric Vehicle Charging Station on the Las Vegas Strip. This new Charging Station is located at the valet entrance to The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, between Mandalay Bay and Luxor resorts.

Charging service is available free of charge to retail and resort customers driving personal electric vehicles, like the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt.

“I couldn’t be more proud that Mandalay Place is first with this forward-thinking program,” said Chef Rick Moonen, best-selling author and one of the world’s leading advocates for the use of sustainable seafood in the food industry. “Someone has to take the leadership role and I’m happy MGM Resorts is willing to move toward a better way of doing things.”

Chef Moonen, known for his appearances on national television programs like Bravo’s “Top Chef,” also operates the two rm seafood restaurants inside The Shoppes at Mandalay Place.

MGM Resorts energy experts say this is an important first step that reflects the Company’s continued commitment to environmental responsibility in the hospitality industry.

Go Green and Go to Vegas!

Green at Interop

You can save green by going green with a pre-owned refurbished server, rack or workstation from Stallard Technologies, Inc. (STI). At this years Interop Las Vegas expo, Jeff Palmer, Vice President and COO of STI, recently explained how they refurbish equipment newly off-lease or pre-owned and give otherwise-destined-for-the-landfill IT equipment new life. And if it can't be re-used, it is broken down into components and recycled.

Greening your IT can result in saving some green. Data centers consume more energy per square foot than any other part of an office building, predominantly from servers and cooling. For example, Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), one of the leading financial services companies in India, is building three energy-efficient data centers that will reduce REL’s annual power costs by 30-35%, with estimated savings of over $250,000 a year. Associated Bank’s new data center expansion in Green Bay, Wisc., includes a new cooling system that will save the financial firm plenty of green – to the tune of $115,000 annually, reports American Banker.

But apart from STI, I noticed almost a laissez-faire attitude about green and very little mention of green or energy-efficiency in booth marketing at Interop, the leading business technology event, being held in Las Vegas, April 25-29, 2010. Maybe this is because of Forrester's survey data that states, "more energy is actually consumed by distributed IT assets in aggregate (e.g. PCs, monitors, printers, phones) – 55% across distributed IT vs. 45% in the data center. And even more so, the IT industry is only responsible for 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions." Clearly green was not a focus this year.

Doug Washburn on ZDNet.com, who spoke at Interop on “The Evolution Of Green IT: Projects That Cut Cost, Avoid Risk And Grow Revenues” to help IT professionals plan for green IT’s current and future state, suggests looking beyond greening traditional hardware to services, processes, software and people. Things like energy audits and power management software can result in significant energy and money savings.

Blogging from the National Clean Energy Summit

Al Gore is very passionate about America getting off our foreign oil dependency. He claims it is a national security measure. Some of the speakers at the National Clean Energy Summit being held right now at UNLV in Las Vegas have pointed out that 4.5 million of the 12 million barrels of oil that we use come from "unfriendlies." Participant T. Boone Pickens pointed out that America uses 25% of the world's supply of oil, although we make up only 4% of the population. If we continue status quo, there will be "trouble in paradise." Our current energy sources, method of transmittal and how we use it cannot continue. T. Boone suggests updating the grid to take advantage of wind, which is currently available; electric for light duty transportation and natural gas for all new Class A vehicles (and natural gas for backup when the wind isn't blowing or the sun shining).

Green Your Body and Drive it Green!

The G3reen Outlet in the Arts Factory will feature ways to green your body, inside and out, with eco-friendly lotions, makeup and natural oils as well as organic cooking oils, spreads and food ideas on August 7, 2009, 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., during First Friday, Las Vegas Arts District’s monthly arts, entertainment, and social block party held downtown.

A chance to win a copy of Robyn O'Brien's The Unhealthy Truth will be available and all antics will be broadcast LIVE here on goinggreen.com. If you cannot be with us in person, you can sign up on your left to win a copy of the book.

In addition, a five-passenger zero-emission electric van from rEVolution Vehicles will be on display to showcase greener transportation options available now and what to expect in the future. The G3reen Outlet in the Arts Factory, located at 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 100, connects people, planet and products through interactive displays, internet TV, business to business networking and creative workshops.

GoingGreenTV goes live!

Yes, we will be streaming to you LIVE from the Arts Factory in downtown Las Vegas during the First Friday event this Friday, May 1, from 6pm-10pm.

Tune in as we ask people how they are going green!

Earth Hour 2009 from Las Vegas

The Arts Factory in Las Vegas Goes Green for First Friday!

If you live 150 miles of Las Vegas, don't miss this First Friday! Downtown’s monthly art festival is going green January 2, 2009 with the addition of the G3reen Outlet inside of the Arts Factory on West Charleston, between Main Street and Casino Center Drive.
The G3reen Outlet is designed as an eco gallery, store and resource center focused on green living solutions. Among the displays, Pulte DelWebb Homes will feature their new community, Villa Trieste, the first LEED certified and Solar Community in Nevada. Other participating partners include Liquid Stucco, Everything Electric, and a variety of artists, designers, and green product suppliers. The event is free to attend.
See more details and RSVP on Project ecoBrand.