A Capitol Idea

Last night during the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, while boasting of their plans for the environment, none of the three Senators pointed out what’s already going on in the House of Representatives. Today’s Washington Post Food section has a fun article by Jane Black on what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s been up to. As part of an ambitious Green the Capitol Project to make the House carbon neutral by the end of this session, the Speaker has started an overhaul of the building’s cafeterias. The cafés account for an astounding 50 percent of the approximately 250 metric tons of waste the House generates every year. Starting with Longworth Café, the eateries will now feature biodegradable cutlery along with fair-trade coffee, certified sustainable seafood and as much organic, locally grown food as possible (yet more proof that the Oxford University Press made the right call when they chose “locavore” over “colony collapse disorder” and “tase” to be the word of the year). Yes, one could joke that no amount of biodegradable cutlery will cut into the hot air the Hill generates, but it still seems an admirable start.