Proximity Hotel: Greenest Hotel in America
If you are ever need to stay in Greensboro, North Carolina and want to stay at one of the greenest hotels in the country, you are in luck. The Proximity Hotel is locally-owned and recognized by U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System as the greenest hotel in the country. This 4 star hotel was built to be more sustainable, while still be a world-class hotel and restaurant.
What is LEED?
The U.S. Green Building Council organizes the LEED certification program that is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings throughout America. It also provides building owners the necessary tools to make their buildings more sustainable. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:
- Sustainable site development
- Water savings
- Energy efficiency
- Materials selection
- Indoor environmental quality
What makes the Proximity Hotel so green?
The USGBC recently gave the Proximity Hotel it’s LEED Platinum award, it’s highest award to green buildings throughout America. This is the first platinum award given to a building within the hospitality industry in America. There is a huge list of sustainable practices that earned this hotel the LEED top award, but top few include:
- It uses 40% less energy and 30% less water than comparable hotels.
- 100 solar panels covering the 4,000 square feet of rooftop that heats 60% of the hotel’s water.
- Regional vendors and artists were used for furniture and artwork.
- Made using many recycled building materials, sustainable woods and salvaged wood.
- A green, vegetated rooftop will be planted on the restaurant.
It’s crazy how many sustainable methods the owners of this hotel used to build this hotel. A cool feature of this hotel is the solar panels that are lined on its rooftop. Not only do they look cool, but they utilize a normally unused space on many buildings. On top of that, it probably saves the hotel tons of money every year in heating costs.
On top of the hotel being green, its restaurant, the Print Works Bistro, has gone above and beyond in terms of sustainability. They provide local foods in many of their dishes, use geothermal energy to power their refrigeration system and use salvaged wood on their tabletops.
Quality and Green?
Just because this is considered to be the greenest hotel in America doesn’t mean it can’t be a world-class hotel with the luxurious look and feel of a 4-star hotel. They provide all the top amenities many top-tier hotels offer including high quality mattress and sheets, LCD TV, local art and are an entirely smoke-free hotel. I have been to a few 4-star hotels and they don’t look as nice this one.
I often check TripAdvisor to get a good idea of how nice a hotel is before choosing it. The Proximity Hotel received 4 1/2 stars out of 5. They are also ranked one of the top hotels in Greensboro in terms of popularity. The price tag to stay at this hotel is fairly expensive at approximately $225 a night, but is the ordinary the price you are going to pay for a 4 star hotel. This hotel is a great example of how a beautiful hotel and restaurant like this one can leave a smaller footprint by using more sustainable methods and still charge a comparable price. Imagine the environmental impact if hotels across the country began using sustainable methods.
Happy New Years
I just want to wish everybody a happy New Years. Be sure to be safe and get a designated driver if you need one. Not only will it make sure that you and everybody else are not put at risk, but you will be carpooling and reducing your carbon footprint.
Happy Holidays
I just want to wish everybody has a happy holidays. I hope you spend the holidays with your friends and/or family and enjoy your time off as I will 
Save Water with Delta Water Amplifying Showerhead
Delta has gone to a new level with showerheads by creating the Delta Water Amplifying Adjustable Showerhead with H2OKINETIC Technology. It can save you up to 25% of your water usage during a shower while still providing you with water pressure that is equivalent to a standard 2.5 gallon showerhead. On top of all of that, it is priced affordable under $30.
The Delta 75152 Water Amplifying shower head has two settings, a water savings setting at 1.85 gallons per minute and a high-volume at 2.5 gallons. This will ensure that if the lower pressure setting is not enough pressure for you or your guest, that they will have the option to switch it higher. It also carries a lifetime warranty and requires little to no cleaning.
What is neat about this device that it not only can save you money on your water bill, but it could also reduce your energy bill. Since this device uses less water, it thereby reduces the load on your water heater. This means instant savings on your electric or gas bill and will keep your water hot for a longer period. Now you can enjoy your showers longer without losing the heat as quickly. Imagine how much money you could save on your water and energy bills by combining this shower head along with taking shorter showers.
Whether you cut back on your water bill, save money on your bills or simply want a more pressurized shower-head, this seems like the best available for the price.
Acorn Shortage in Eastern America
If you live on the East coast of America, you might be wondering why it is so easy to walk without hearing constant crunching this fall and winter. The main reason is that oak trees have failed to produce as many acorns, if any at all, this year. I am so used to always seeing tons of acorns scattered all over my yard or pathways and this year I have yet to see many myself. Scientist have been unable to find any acorns at all in certain regions of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other nearby states. This has left many, including myself, wondering where did they all go?
The clue to discovering the answer come from last year when there was a much larger than normal production of acorns. Since their production runs in cycles, it seems logically normal that there are less fallen nuts on the ground. The basic idea is that the trees are exhausted from last year thus not able to make as many this year. Also attributed to the shortage is a wetter than average spring season. Some scientist are completely baffled that in some areas there are absolutely none to be found. Even with a shortage, it seems strange that some oak trees aren’t making any at all, while others have normal yields.
The biggest question some have is how are the squirrels going to survive? With less amounts of acorns, how are they ever going to survive? The squirrels will be fine as they are extremely adaptive creatures and will find new sources of food. They always seem to find food from the plants in my garden. There has also been past instances when acorns were not present for years and squirrels were able to survive without them. If you really feel bad for them this winter, you could give them some food to help them make it through:
Barbara Prescott, a wildlife rehabilitation expert, agreed that squirrels are not fussy about their diet. She suggested that residents leave whole (not crushed) corn, peanuts and sunflowers in the seed as backyard treats.
EcoSmart Natural Organic Insecticides
After talking about how to make your homemade pesticides and repellents, I found a brand of natural organic insecticides called EcoSmart. They are not a new company as they have been around for over 15 years now. All of their products are made from essential plant oils that are just as effective the harmful chemical counterparts. If you don’t want to make your products and want to ensure that you are not exposed to unnecessary toxins, this is the way to go.
It contains a patented technology combines plant oils that target and block a key neurotransmitter receptor site found only in invertebrates.
You can see if you check their site to see if they sell their products in a store near you or you can buy directly through them.
The company is also willing to send a sample of their products to a random commenter on this article. Be sure to comment so you try to get a free sample.
The US Auto Industry Bailout Bill
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the enormous amounts of media coverage revolving around the Congressional bailout package for the US Auto Industry to prevent them from going bankrupt. The amount has change from $25 billion to $14 billion, but it is still a substantial amount the Auto Industry is asking of us to lend them. I am torn between the two sides of this issue.
Economic Stability
This bailout is just a loan to major auto makers of this country and would help provide stability for our economy. They are going to be paying back this money and there would be strict government regulations put into place to ensure that they start producing more eco-friendly vehicles including hybrid and all-electric vehicles. Another ramification is that if any or all of the top auto makers in our country went under, it would leave any already fragile economy is a horrible state. This seems drastic, but it could even push us into a depression. The ramifications of something like this happening could be devastating.
More Eco-Friendly Cars
I would hate to see our economy hurt even worse, but part of me wants these companies to go out of business because of their failed attempts at keeping up with the time. They have failed to show that they can make car efficiently and on top of that they haven’t shown that they can produce an affordable, production ready eco-friendly vehicle. If we do give them this money, will they really strive to be more innovative like many other small more innovative smaller auto companies? I don’t think so. I really would rather our country provide more loans to smaller American companies like Aptera and Tesla who are the leading edge of the auto industry. With more funds, these smaller companies could make a production ready car that would nearly eliminate our dependency on oil. Whether it be electric, hydrogen or some other type of energy to run vehicles off of, many would be welcome to the change.
This is an extremely complex issue that is a lose-lose no mater which happens in my opinion. How do you feel about this bailout bill and do you think these companies deserve this money?
