When you are an environmental writer, you find yourself looking to the ecologically minded. "Green" is the lens, and it greets you wherever you go (either in the "wow, so eco-ly green!" or the "OMG--where's the Green" sort of way.)
Take LEGOLAND for instance. LEGOLAND, Florida--conveniently located on I-4 between Orlando and my former hometown of Tampa. When you have two Lego-lovin' kids, it's on the itinerary--no doubt about it!!
Aside being totally awestruck by the things Lego engineers can do with Legos (build a life-size Ford Explorer,multiple resorts/casinos in Las Vegas, the hot-spots of Washington, DC, life-size safari animals and more), you're struck by the other things as well.
In three instances (instances that occurred repeatedly, but not "every single time"), I was struck that this "building company" was highlighting (and educating about) some new building processes in the most amazingly subtle places. Brilliant! Truly, a stroke of genius (said not-lightly as Einstein graced our presence!!)
Being Florida's newest amusement park (circa 2011), visionary building is in their view. It was evident in the little places, yet the frequent places:
park waste/recycling bins,
and storage cubbies across the park.
They were built out of (and sporadically labeled) with a stamp as to what compound they were manufactured out of: Milk Jugs (and recycled plastic bottles). Look closely, and each structure will tell you precisely how many milk jugs they are made of to form that plastic compound. Brilliant!
Subtly, LEGOLAND educates. Subtly, they inspire.
One of the best eco-parts of LEGOLAND too was one of the first things I noticed: they "upcycled" former Cypress Gardens by purchasing and integrating the historic park into their theme. What a fabulous form of recycling. So, down to highlighting their 1939 banyan tree, commemorating the Southern Bells in Legos, and honoring the water-skiing history through their show with Pirate BrickBeard & "girl-power" water skiing prowess of Ms. Miranda, they brought together the old and the new!! Check here for a great article in the Orlando Sentinel which highlights that!!
Yes! Love it (and the childhood memories of Cypress Gardens it brings forth!!)
Photos from My Camera a la LEGOLAND, FL.
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