Casinos Are Going Green

Lots of your favorite casinos are pitching in and doing their part for the environment. From their perspective, the growing trend towards becoming more eco-friendly has as much to do with luring in potential customers as it does with sustainability. Still, whatever their motives might be, green casinos are a better bet for the planet and us. The Palazzo, a brand new, shining star in the Casino laden city of Las Vegas, made history, quite literally, when it was recognized by LEED-NC (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Environmental Design – New construction) as the largest “Green Building on the planet!” The LEED designation is the benchmark for design and construction of high-performing “green buildings”. Other big casinos in Las Vegas and New Jersey have been commended for their efforts to become better citizens of the Earth. Still, the one casino that probably deserves the most recognition for the lowest carbon footprint won’t be getting any special commendations. Online casinos, such as Caesars online, are flourishing in a world that doesn’t need to go green… because it already is. When you take advantage of the opportunity to do your gambling via the world-wide-web, you are enjoying the same fun and games, but without the environmental impact of a huge building with extensive hotel and restaurant space, not to mention gaming areas. You are saving all of that energy and eliminating tons of waste. Of course, you didn’t drive to your computer, so you are cutting back on smog-forming emissions from your car or from the plane you’d have taken to fly out. So, the online casino probably does deserve a reward for being the greenest, but they really don’t seem to mind. After all, business for them is less costly and profits higher, so they’re seeing a lot more of the kind of green they’re really interested in without any award.