Comments on: Day 133-137: Nevada: And the water goes to…DOH! http://blog.yert.com/2007/11/26/day-133-137-nevada-and-the-water-goes-todoh/ All things YERT, for one year. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:56:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Julie http://blog.yert.com/2007/11/26/day-133-137-nevada-and-the-water-goes-todoh/#comment-5779 Julie Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:31:26 +0000 http://blog.yert.com/2007/11/26/day-133-137-nevada-and-the-water-goes-todoh/#comment-5779 This comment came from Doug Bennett, Water Conservation Manager for the SNWA (Southern Nevada Water Authority) and is included with his permission: (Thanks, Doug!) Mark, Julie and Ben, Thanks again for stopping in Las Vegas. I think you captured the essence of our water efficiency efforts in Julie's blog, but I did want to shed some light on a couple of issues Julie raised. We do have curbside residential recycling, but you are right that it is scarce in the commercial sector. If a business wants to recycle, they need to hire a separate firm from the major company that handles our regional solid waste. I think this will be changing soon, as many of the major hotels are becoming LEED certified and are instituting more aggressive environmental programs. My own company pays to have their waste recycled in addition to their normal solid waste expense. It does indeed take water, energy and imagination to run the Bellagio fountains. Water use is most efficient when it provides the greatest value. The least efficient water show is the one that few people watch, therefore you, Mark and Ben helped increase efficiency by being there. Although water attractions are extraordinarily visible, surprisingly, they make up less than 2 percent of the land use at a typical mega-resort. If I could exclude the Bellagio (which has a whopping 8 acres of surface), it would be a tiny fraction of one percent. Considering our resorts produce a huge portion of our economy, yet consume less than 3 percent of our water resources, it is a relatively well-suited industry for a desert city with cosmopolitan appeal. Lastly, I wanted to point out that some of our most successful new resorts have no elaborate water features at all. Doug Bennett Conservation Manager, SNWA This comment came from Doug Bennett, Water Conservation Manager for the SNWA (Southern Nevada Water Authority) and is included with his permission: (Thanks, Doug!)

Mark, Julie and Ben,

Thanks again for stopping in Las Vegas. I think you captured the essence of our water efficiency efforts in Julie’s blog, but I did want to shed some light on a couple of issues Julie raised.

We do have curbside residential recycling, but you are right that it is scarce in the commercial sector. If a business wants to recycle, they need to hire a separate firm from the major company that handles our regional solid waste. I think this will be changing soon, as many of the major hotels are becoming LEED certified and are instituting more aggressive environmental programs. My own company pays to have their waste recycled in addition to their normal solid waste expense.

It does indeed take water, energy and imagination to run the Bellagio fountains. Water use is most efficient when it provides the greatest value. The least efficient water show is the one that few people watch, therefore you, Mark and Ben helped increase efficiency by being there. Although water attractions are extraordinarily visible, surprisingly, they make up less than 2 percent of the land use at a typical mega-resort. If I could exclude the Bellagio (which has a whopping 8 acres of surface), it would be a tiny fraction of one percent.

Considering our resorts produce a huge portion of our economy, yet consume less than 3 percent of our water resources, it is a relatively well-suited industry for a desert city with cosmopolitan appeal. Lastly, I wanted to point out that some of our most successful new resorts have no elaborate water features at all.

Doug Bennett
Conservation Manager, SNWA

]]> By: Gwen http://blog.yert.com/2007/11/26/day-133-137-nevada-and-the-water-goes-todoh/#comment-4775 Gwen Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:40:32 +0000 http://blog.yert.com/2007/11/26/day-133-137-nevada-and-the-water-goes-todoh/#comment-4775 The reason they don't recycle in Nevada is because they have so much land. It's not cost effective to recycle if it's super cheap to get landfill space. In New York we have the opposite scenario - it's so crowded here that we have to ship our garbage to the Midwest, so sending garbage to the landfill is actually more expensive than sending it to a recycling center in New Jersey. If they want to start recycling in Nevada (which they should, because it is good for the environment and creates jobs), they need to give financial incentives to waste carters to keep the recycling separate from the garbage and out of the landfills. The reason they don’t recycle in Nevada is because they have so much land. It’s not cost effective to recycle if it’s super cheap to get landfill space. In New York we have the opposite scenario - it’s so crowded here that we have to ship our garbage to the Midwest, so sending garbage to the landfill is actually more expensive than sending it to a recycling center in New Jersey. If they want to start recycling in Nevada (which they should, because it is good for the environment and creates jobs), they need to give financial incentives to waste carters to keep the recycling separate from the garbage and out of the landfills.

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