Sometimes a little belt tightening is healthy. Lord knows we’ve had our national belt on pretty loosely these last few decades.
The economic downturn might help by forcing businesses and individuals to examine their habits. This USA Today piece on hotel budget trimming had this tidbit buried toward the end:
When [the] Hilton Anaheim anticipates low turnout for its morning breakfast, it shuts down buffet tray tables and instead offers guests a fixed-priced “personal buffet,” where items are cooked in the kitchen.
That probably makes sense, and you’ve got to love the semantics. Most meals, I enjoy a “personal buffet.”
Where this recession isn’t so great is when it drives innovative companies out of business. Organic Recovery and Publix supermarkets had a deal that saw O.R. collect and convert food waste to liquid soil amendment in Florida’s Broward County. Friday, Publix announced that the arrangement has ended.
Publix spokeswoman Kim Jaeger: “Because of the economy, they can’t service us any longer.” Given that Organic Recovery’s Web site is down and nobody answers their phone, I’m guessing that they are out of commission, at least temporarily. Hope I’m wrong.
And let’s hope another company can fill the void because it seems like Publix wants to continue doing the green thing (while saving money on waste hauling charges):
”Being green is so important to us,” Jaeger said. “We continue to look at recycling efforts and alternatives for our waste.”