Go Green…in Las Vegas? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, you thought? You would be right; the renewable energy sources are staying in Las Vegas along with your money too usually. Can Sin City be changed into the Green City? The process started a while back, but it is moving forward with all the gusto that only Las Vegas can bring to a situation like this one.
If you have never been to Las Vegas, and you should go, imagine an oasis in the middle of the desert that never shuts down. Want to eat, drink, gamble, party or just walk around you could. The lights and air conditioners run twenty-four hours a day all year long. Around the clock buffets provide constant eating and drinking and the nightlife provides its own unique world of waste and experience.
Las Vegas casinos are cities unto themselves and have their own electric companies, water companies and other teams that work with the city to manage everything. The desert is full of sand but Las Vegas does a great job of growing grass and trees there too. The landscape requires more water to maintain it, but it also serves a healthy and aesthetic purpose as well.
The live brick and mortar casinos and online casino are not going away any time soon. However, they may see their guest stays reduced or their revenue reduced from the casino floors as more people go online to gamble. This online gaming provides a strong reason for the casinos to go green…to save their green. Less people visiting means less money gambled and less money gambled means less money to pay the bills. By starting to go Green now, the Nevada casinos will be in a better position should online betting sites take business away from the land-based casinos.
Water and Electric
Recycling water, food and plastics is a good start. Remember when the hotels started asking if you wanted new towels every day? It was a win for everyone. Less activities, less washing, less drying, less time and effort but it was marginal next to what came later and still in the future.
Saving on electric by using adaptive lighting that shuts itself on and off based on activity is equally useful when saving money and Going Green. More solar energy is expected to be used in the future which would help defray the electricity costs even more than they are today.
Building Materials
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is helpful and a good sign that changes are coming to newer buildings and upgraded existing ones. Design materials over the last decade have come along that provide better insulation which in turn provides better warmth or cooling.
There are tax incentive s to help them pursue a Green initiative which will also help their bottom line. So bottom line? While there are costs involved to get all of this built and installed, the return on the investment should be quick given the size and volume of the existing methods and solutions.