Motel 6 may have been proud at one point of "leavin' the lights on," but with the growing awareness of this day and age, it now sounds like poor environmental stewardship.  But hotels have always seemed like one huge energy sink hole, anyhow.  Here, we're all on vacation — we don't want to think about being frugal, or practical,  or hanging up the towels, ever.  The AC often blasts frigid for all the hours we're not there, set back down by the maids when they came through even if we turned it up to make sure the guests are not overheated when they get back.   And if we leave the lights on when we leave the hotel room, that will discourage anyone thinking they can steal from an empty room, right? 

I hate walking out and leaving that light on.  I usually don't.  But it has seemed like a ridiculously futile effort in this whole international wide world of hotel rooms.  So how excited was I when I stayed at the downtown Pittsburgh Westin hotel this past weekend to discover that their systems will only run when your room key is inserted into this little box on the wall, and left there?  I've not seen this before, and I LOVE IT!  Obviously, if you've only been issued one room key, when you leave, your heating/cooling and lights are off, baby! Checking in ahead of my husband, I was issued two room keys, one for each, I assume, but of course now I had a spare that I could leave in the slot when I left.  Well, the Westin people have thought of that to, and have a second line of defense.  The slot the key goes in is right by the door; you can swing the door open with the room key card in the slot, but it's not easy, and the card slot, up around eye level, is impossible to miss, so even if you're not especially focused on caring for our dear Mother Earth, you're going to run almost face into this card protruding from the wall as you walk out.  LOVE THAT, TOO.         

In fact, I was so excited about this Westin in general.  They had the card that explained the system for clean sheets and towels, if you wanted them — our country does seem to be finally catching up with Europe on this one, and it's welcome in my book.  Having lived in Pittsburgh for the last decade of the nineties, what I loved about the place were the friendliness of the people, and the personality of the city.   What was tough for me, the mostly vegetarian daughter of a nutritionist, was that the dining culture was a few decades behind — kielbasi, white potato rolls, and Cool Whip desserts were standard fare; even thinking about sushi, whole grains, or a vegetarian meal pretty much typified you as an alien, one that no one was prepared or interested in satisfying.  Organic anything, food to lawn care to cotton, was pretty much for hippies.   But happy, happy day.  The room service menu at the Westin was the most progressive hotel menu I think I've ever seen — organic eggs, whole grains, free range poultry, fresh fruit and vegetables, and vegetarian options galore.  They even had a healthy version of Eggs Benedict with turkey bacon!!  Westin, you rule!  And there is hope for our planet. 

As for The Burgh, the only thing you're missing now is a beach...