scanda-las vegas

Where: Sitting at a red desk on the main floor of a library/art museum in Las Vegas.
What: Taking a blog break and watching Rik finish the other half of my Snickers.
Why: Work today – Climb tomorrow
How: Free wireless internet (ya-hoo!)
Vegas highlights: Organic groceries; bike lanes from the campground to town; solar lighting in the campground pooper
Vegas lowlights: the thick blanket of brown smog; the 315,000-watt light beam shooting from the Luxor’s 30-story onyx-hued pyramid; Whole Foods recycling scandal

More on that…
Whole Foods Market - This is by far the nicest WFM that I’ve been in. It’s got a huge deli and the best bulk section that I’ve seen so far on our trip. It still pales in comparison to The Kootenay Co-op in Nelson, B.C – but oh well…

I have to admit, my initial impression of the Las Vegas WFM was very bad. I arrived armed with my grocery bags and a few recyclables. I hunted for the recycling bins and found a massive can spewing with plastic, glass, paper, food scraps…you name it. They either have an amazing sorting system or (gasp) no recycling at all!

I was flabbergasted. An employee arrived to haul the mess away and I asked him where the recycling bins were. He said there were none. My jaw dropped into my hemp sack. I asked if there was any recycling in Las Vegas and he said no. I said something to the effect of “that sucks” – but no clean words could truly express my dismay.

I desperately scanned the sea of faces, looking for someone to correct him, to assure us that recycling was alive and well in this young city. No one said anything. Instead they tore the plastic wrappers off their plastic forks and knives. They sat in the store eating their takeout meals in their takeout containers.

I walked over to the pizza oven in a wasted daze and was served pizza in a mandatory paper-box. I sunk deeper into my funk and made Rik ask the nice pizza lady if we could recycle the box. She told us that there was recycling at the front of the store. Ahh ... a sweet wave of relief...Maybe there was some truth to their “green commitment” (WholeFoods Market.com)

The check-out man told me that recycling my pizza box was a no-go. My delicious, grilled-veg pizza left a stain that deems the box un-recyclable. I swallowed my heart once again. Then he let me in on a piece of scandalous news…Their recycling program is on halt. The company they paid ($big bucks$) to take their recycling away, was actually carting it off to the dump. I gasped (audibly this time). The scumbuggers were (and maybe still are) Las Vegas’s primary recycling company. Viva, ScandaLas Vegas.