San Francisco Goes Green
Tuesday, 29 Sep, 2009
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Ritz Carlton
Many San Francisco hoteliers like the sustainable idea and are increasingly building "green" hotels or renovating existing hotels to make them environmentally friendly. The Orchard Garden Hotel near Chinatown, for example, is a boutique hotel built in 2006 to national standards for "green" buildings developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC.
In 2007, the Orchard Garden Hotel became the first hotel in California and third in the country to receive the USGBC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) "green" building certification. A key LEED criterion is energy-saving design, construction and operation.
The vintage-style Hotel Carlton, near Union Square and the Theatre District, also has a LEED certification. One of San Francisco’s first "green" hotels is the Hotel Triton, located two blocks from Union Square.
Eco-minded tourists can visit Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, site of a famous former federal penitentiary, on the Hornblower Hybrid, the nation’s first hybrid ferry boat. Launched early this summer by Alcatraz Cruises, the catamaran utilizes wind power, solar energy and diesel engines and looks quite sporty besides.
Speaking of sports, a visit to the United States would not be complete without taking in a baseball game. San Francisco is the home of the Giants, a Major League Baseball team that plays at AT&T Park. The stadium, on the waterfront near Fisherman’s Wharf, uses solar panels to generate electricity.
So far, the Giants have also retrofitted one of the stadium concession stands selling garlic fries, a popular California snack, to reduce gas and cooking-oil consumption; the fries come in compostable containers.
For environmentally conscious lovers of finer cuisine, there are places like the Dosa on Fillmore Street. The hip South Indian restaurant’s furniture is made of bamboo and coconut wood, and the ingredients of the food are, the restaurant says, "primarily organic, bio-dynamic, natural, free-range and sustainable." The Dosa is packed with diners.
Source: Earth Times
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