The world around us

When it comes to searching for new places to go to, I am rather good at finding some pretty amazing resorts. A friend in London asked me to find her a nice place to go to for the weekend, something that is relaxing but has lots to offer in terms of cultural and sightseeing. Since they are particularly fond of walking trails and exploring the country side, I found the Buena Viva Exeter resort to be the perfect find for them. The resort offers the highest quality of service, while still feeling like a warm and homely place, rather then a sterile hotel.

London’s surrounding areas just have so much to offer that it’s hard to keep up with everything that is going on, from cultural activities such as theater and music, to historical sites and outdoor adventures. I find that most places in the UK have a really great mix of all of these, and therefore work rather well for both local and foreign tourists, who especially love to get an idea how the locals live. London is great, but to get to know a country and its people, it is essential to wander and roam to its smaller towns and cities.

Grocery stores across the US are making a connection with customers in a new way now, by increasing their commitment to the environment and changing the way the store uses energy. According to Joel Makower, executive director of GreenBiz.com, “The biggest opportunities for grocery stores to be greener have to do with things that shoppers never see, or rarely notice.” GreenBiz.com is a company that focuses on helping companies turn to green products and processes.

Stop & Shop Supermarkets/Giant Food was adjudged as the Energy Star Leader by the US Department of Environment Protection, as it had a near perfect score on energy efficiency. New Jersey based store Pathmark Stores will be introducing its recycling program, where it will be collecting plastic bags to turn them into plastic lumber that is used to benches and decks.

The two main energy losses for a store are refrigeration and lighting and if stores can manage these two aspects of their stores efficiently, then they are well on their way to achieving green success. Wegmans, for example, has handled the situation by changing all its light bulbs to compact florescent bulbs and also uses glycol, which is a non-toxic sugar based refrigerant instead of Freon.

Other stores such as Stop & Shop and ShopRite employ energy management systems that use less energy during off hours as well as higher efficiency fan motors in their refrigeration systems. It’s a good indication that stores are willing to change the way they function to reach out to customers who value energy efficiency.