I just came back from Portland, OR. Portland has gotten a lot of good press for their city-wide composting program and strict zoning regulations that have curtailed urban sprawl. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was the well integrated public transit system. From the airport to my hotel in the city center on one line. The hotel was nice and included the option of not having your linens and towels washed daily. They used CFLs and flat screen TVs in most rooms. One feature lacking, that I saw when I was in Japan, was that your room key-card was what yo used to turn the lights on in your room. You put your card in a slot by the door and the lights come on. Take the card out when you leave and bingo, off go the lights. I’ve yet to see this in the US.
I was disappointed to see very little in the way of recycling at the small restaurants that I visited and I only saw one container that had “compost” on it. When I asked on shop owner why they didnt’ recycle she replied that they didn’t have time to separate and that patrons too often comingled garbage and waste. This, by the way, was the same response when I asked the airline attendant why they didn’t recycle. It is kind of sad when people are too busy or careless to take even the smallest steps to recycle.