We had to go pick up Larry's suit at the Men's Wearhouse in Tucker Saturday morning. He's lost some weight since he last wore it sometime around the turn of the century, so he had it altered. He wants to look hot at Darryl and April's wedding next weekend and figures maybe wearing clothes that fit will help.

So there we were in Tucker, and I promised you I would stop back in at Marlow's and check on their green scene. It wasn't that I wanted some more of those crispy fries, or that fresh-off-the-vine, tempura okra, or that to-die-for flatbread special they have only through the end of the month so you better hurry up and go. It was that I was obligated. I promised you I would go, so I had to go. Sigh.
 
General manager, Torleif Hoff visited with us after our meal. To tell you the truth we were so stuffed we would have had to sit there awhile rubbing our bellies in any case, but it was nice to have the company.
 
Really nice. If Holly Elmore is the Queen of Green, Hoff is a green giant among GM's. Since the Tucker Marlow's is connected to the Doubletree hotel, eco-planning is a joint effort. And I am happy to report, gentle readers, that it is taking place.

The restaurant/hotel management team has begun a step-by-step look at how they can be more conservative of resources; for instance they spend some time evaluating the A/C system and then they move on to another system of operation. Their used oil is picked up and turned into biodiesel, their kitchen appliances are low-flow and the take-out containers, as we mentioned before, are compostable.

They have identified areas of the building  where they can flip the breaker switch at night, effectively shutting off all the power drain that comes from a multitude of plugged in, ready-to-use items. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimate that the phantom or "vampire" energy that escapes in this way accounts for 5% of the total energy use in a house and I would assume a comparable figure for businesses. Given the size of a restaurant-hotel combo, 5% is a substantial savings for the environment and for whoever pays the electric bill (which is us, indirectly, if you think about it).

Marlowe's is arranging for the recycling of glass and paper at the Tucker store. Hoff says it's a done deal; they're just figuring out where to put their dumpsters. Very soon, they will have three trash receptacles, one for garbage, one for recycling glass and one for recycling paper, just as they did in Hoff's native Norway when he left fifteen years ago. Fifteen years ago.

Hoff told us that training is an important issue in businesses like restaurants that operate primarily with a young staff. When we're young, we tend to see things in the short-term, which makes it hard to realize that the short-cuts we take now will have consequences in the future.

That's why a lot of young people don't contribute to a retirement account, even with the benefits of compounding interest. Retirement feels so far away when you're twenty; it doesn't even seem like a reality. Maybe that's why the U.S., a youngster when compared to Norway, has only recently started taking environmental issues seriously.

That's okay. We're a wonderful country and we're maturing very nicely. It's gratifying to talk to so many restaurant owners, managers, servers and chefs that exude a wise understanding of the importance of investing in the future now, even through ignoring the long-term consequences would be a heck of a lot easier.