The Emerald City

I’ve been doing a little research about the location of this year’s Annual Meeting- Seattle, WA. An interesting fact- Seattle was named one of the top ten green cities in the nation by National Geographic. In fact, the Washington State Convention & Trade Center (WSCTC) in downtown Seattle announced the availability of the nation’s first completely compostable water bottles available for convention center clients. The center’s new, .5 liter water bottles are made from corn-based resin (PLA) and the entire bottle, cap, label and contents are 100 percent recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. By contrast, traditional petroleum-based resin water bottles take up to 5,000 years to decompose.

We’re very proud to have our meeting in Seattle, as ACC continues to ‘go green’. Last year, we moved away from our printed course materials (books that were easily hundreds of pages of printed paper for each attendee) and gave everyone electronic versions of the materials. We’ll be doing the same this year.

I can see why Seattle is recognized as a clean, environmentally conscious city- they have wonderful national treasures to preserve. If you’re getting into Seattle before the meeting, take a walk through Pike Place Market, eat in the international district, or take an Orca spotting tour. Why not take in a Mariners/Seahawks game, or a dinner cruise on the Puget sound? Take a ferry ride, check out Discovery Park, the Space Needle or ride the monorail. And don't forget to take public transportation; all of the buses are either electric or run on biodiesel! These of course, are all things I hope to do while in Seattle. Do you have any other suggestions? Send them along!

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-Nichole Opkins