What would be the opposite of green? On my recent’s travels I think I may just have discovered the answer. I have just got back from Las Vegas, and as anyone that has been there knows its a pretty weird place. From the slot machines in the airport terminal as you arrive, to the constant stink of cigarette and cigar smoke throughout the hotels – it hardly feels like America at all. Or any other country for that matter.
I was with Michael Prosceno, who heads up SAP’s industry changing Blogger relations program, when we had a particularly weird moment. Sitting outside at a place called the Border Grill, we lit up a couple of cigarettes to go with our drinks. A waiter came over and politely asked us not to smoke in the area. When just feet away, inside the hotel, people were happily puffing away.
In Vegas you can get some of the freshest seafood. You want oysters in the desert- no problem. And I don’t mean prairie oysters.
I was talking to Rich Green, Sun’s software guy yesterday, and when I said I couldn’t see Vegas as having much a future, he pointed out that with the Hoover dam nearby, it would always have enough electricity. The reason I don’t think the city is sustainable though is actually more to do with water. There isn’t any. You fly in over desert and then suddenly golf courses appear.
Vegas is a city powered by ultra consumption. Every cubic meter is air-conditioned, whether there is anyone in the room or not. The light on the top of the Luxor pyramid is apparently the brightest on earth.
I really don’t like the city much- at least not the strip, which is certainly not to say it can’t be great fun. But I think it represents the kind of unsustainable living we need to start paring back on if we want some kind of future. With that in mind, I would say tech firms that are truly concerned with corporate social responsibility should think about having their events elsewhere.
Just because the hotel rooms and conference centers are “cheap”, doesn’t mean they don’t extract a high price. If I feel so strongly about it shouldn’t I just personally boycott events there? I am not sure. What do you think?
Picture courtesy of gribiche and the creative commons Attribution 2.0 license. Thanks gribiche!