Convention 'Greening' Goes Awry (Updated)

by Russell Berman
Sun, 24 Aug 2008 at 5:14 PM
updated Tue, 26 Aug 2008 at 2:56 PM

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The Democrats have embarked on a highly visible effort to make their convention the "greenest" ever, focusing on everything from expanded recycling to more creative programs like encouraging Denver restaurants to offer "lean 'n green" meals made with healthy, organic, and locally sourced ingredients. But not all of their environmentally-friendly initiatives have gone as planned. Take the hotel card keys, for example. Instead of the traditional plastic cards, the Sheraton in downtown handed guests VISA-sponsored swipe cards "made from sustainably-harvested wood." The plan lasted all of a few hours. By Saturday night, enough guests had reported problems getting into their rooms with the wooden cards that the front desk clerks had abandoned them and switched back to the plastic cards. A clerk said they were now handing out one of each and suggested that the wooden one could kept as a souvenir.

UPDATE: We have now heard from the hotel, which says that the wooden cards have been fixed and are now in use. "We experienced a few initial issues with the cards, but the problems have all been resolved," the general manager of the Sheraton Denver Hotel, Michael Ehmann, said in a statement. "Contrary to a few reports, we continue to use the sustainable cards and plan to use them throughout the remainder of the Democratic National Convention."

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