Madison’s Hilton Monona Terrace Offers Green Travel Package

The Hilton Madison Monona Terrace, just off the Capitol Square, offers a Travel Green package as part of its commitment to reduce their impact on the environment.

The package will be available January 1 through January 31, 2009, and may be extended. Features include a King size room for two guests, a bottle of True Earth White or Red Organic Wine, and breakfast in the Olive Restaurant. The offer also includes the book “It’s Easy Being Green,” by Chrissy Trask, a handbook for earth-friendly living and a canvas shopping bag.

For further information, contact the Hilton at 608-255-5100.

Travel Green Wisconsin GreenGuide Score: 56

Checklist Highlights/Innovative Practices:
— Organic and local food products purchased
— ENERGY STAR qualified lighting and computers
— programmable set-back thermostat and light/movement sensors for lighting

Website – www.hiltonmadison.com

Olbrich Gardens Offers a “Greener” Experience

Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison’s East side provides a welcome diversion from snow and ice during Wisconsin’s winter months. Olbrich is well known for their outside gardens, but in winter, visitors can enjoy the indoor Bolz Conservatory, with 10,000 square feet of display space.

The conservatory is a glass pyramid, rising to a 50 foot center, and provides a tropical paradise filled with green foliage, bright orchids and flowering plants, waterfalls and koi ponds, even free flying birds. Pathways wind throughout the space, up and over bridges, along flowing streams, and on tiered paths that allow for a view of the entire conservatory. When it’s snowing outside, it makes a spectacular indoor walk. The temperature is always kept between 65˚ and 80˚F so be sure and dress accordingly.

Bolz Conservatory has an exhibit running currently through January 5, 2009 called Yesterday’s Plants, Today’s Energy. The exhibit presents information on the formation of coal from prehistoric ferns and mosses–plants that grew 290 million years ago to provide energy for us today. The exhibit shows the many steps it takes to turn plant material into coal over millions of years. It also makes the point that these fossil fuels will not be available for tomorrow’s energy needs, and discusses the need for alternative energy sources.

It is just one of the many educational programs Olbrich Gardens offers to inform the public about environmental issues.

The Conservatory is open from 10 am to 4 pm on Monday through Saturday, and from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday. Admission is free to Olbrich Botanical Members and children 5 and under. Free admission is also available to the general public on Wednesdays and Saturday morning from 10 am til noon. Otherwise, admission is $1. For further information, call the gardens at 608-246-4550.

Travel Green Wisconsin Green Guide Score – 83

Green Highlights and innovative practices

— Promotes sustainable Midwest gardening practices through example and education programs

— Staff Green Team tracks projects that have a positive impact on the environment

–Leaves are recycled into mulch for the gardens and public use, showcased in an educational campaign that promotes the energy-saving benefits of this practice

–Award-winning renovated Garver Cottage maintains historic architecture while applying principles of sustainable design

Website — http://www.olbrich.org/

Photo and article by Bo Mackison, who spends many wintry days snug in the tropical gardens in the Conservatory. To see more Wisconsin photos, including the Winter Gallery, visit Seeded Earth Photography. Photo “Red Coil Plant, Bolz Conservatory” © 2008 all rights reserved.