Ideal Bite

OK, I was skeptical too: Vegas, green? I mean, it has its share of noneco vices: smoke-filled, AC-pumping casinos; water-wasting water shows; and the lights, the 24-7-so-not-necessary lights! Not to mention the all-you-can-eat buffets….

But I recently had a very non-Vegas-y trip to Vegas, where my good friends Vanessa and Steve live with their 4-year-old son (and twins on the way!). They made it their mission to show me the other side of Vegas – 15 minutes from the strip – with LEED-certified buildings (like the new Nevada Cancer Institute building, where Steve works), Whole Foods, mountains (we hiked up the Fletcher Canyon Trail on Mt. Charleston, where instead of 105 degrees it was a cool 95, and ate grass-fed burgers in the lodge along the way), beautiful desert landscaping (read: low water), and an all-sustainable Springs Preserve with solar-panel-roofed parking (see photo) and awesome gift shop.

If you must go to the strip (I mean, how can you not? Roulette's my fave…), a few of the casinos are giving a little ch'ching back to the planet too - Palazzo and MGM City Center are two. Good luck…


-Senior Editor Theresa…off to fantasize about winning big...