Vegas nightclubs go green

Popular nightclubs in “Sin City” are implementing a new “green” ticket option and renewable energy credits to help reduce the hot spots’ carbon footprints.

Carbon offset organization, BeGreen, is pairing up with the N9NE Group, a Las Vegas-based nightlife and hospitality company, to implement two separate initiatives designed to make N9NE’s popular Las Vegas’ hot spots more environmentally-conscious.

The new initiatives allow guests of Rain Nightclub, ghostbar, Moon Nightclub and Playboy Club to purchase online ticket add-ons that neutralize the environmental impact associated with their visit to the venues. Guests who reserve tickets through the N9NE Group’s Web site can “green up” their purchase by adding $2.50 to the cost of any regular priced ticket. The BeGreen ticket offsets an estimated 332 pounds of CO2 and purchases 100 kWh of renewable energy made from sources like wind and biomass.

“Last year the N9NE Group paved the way by becoming one of the first of Vegas’ major entertainment companies to make ‘green’ a key focus for their venues,” said Gillan Taddune, chief environmental officer of Green Mountain Energy Company. “Showing that they’re truly dedicated to environmental sustainability, the N9NE Group has not only renewed their commitment by offsetting their carbon emissions again this year, but they’ve taken it a step further by allowing customers to get involved through the ‘green’ ticketing option.”

BeGreen, a division of Green Mountain Energy Company, provides education about the serious effects of harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and offers businesses and consumers simple and effective ways to reduce their carbon footprint through the purchase of renewable energy, forest sequestration and other project-based offsets – purchases that are also audited and verified by an independent accounting firm.

The N9NE Group is also purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset 100 percent of the total calculated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with their estimated electricity, natural gas, and refrigerant usage in 2009 for six of their Las Vegas venues including N9NE Steakhouse, Nove Italiano, Rain Nightclub, ghostbar, Moon Nightclub and Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort.

This amount of RECs has the same environmental impact as taking approximately 518 cars off the road or the sequestration of 349,000 trees each year. Their purchase will offset approximately 2,497 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

“The N9NE Group is proud to provide the best food and nightlife that Las Vegas has to offer,” says Co-owner and Director of Community Relations, Jenna Morton. “We just believe in doing it sustainably. This year, we’ve decided to make it easy for our guests to do the same thing with the simple option of the BeGreen ticket.”

Today, N9NE Group operates a total of ten venues nationwide: seven Las Vegas venues, including N9NE Steakhouse, Nove Italiano, Rain Nightclub, ghostbar, Moon Nightclub, Playboy Club and Palms Pool & Bungalows); two Chicago venues, including N9NE Steakhouse and ghostbar; and ghostbar in Dallas.

For additional information, visit www.n9negroup.com as well as www.begreennow.com.