The Verify-In: Mapping out The Final of Us, what it takes to design a sustainable resort, and extra

Welcome to The Check-In, our weekend travel feature.

It’s now easier for The Last of Us fans to view Alberta filming locations

There’s a way to follow in the footsteps of Joel and Ellie without worrying about the infected, FEDRA, or Hunters chasing you.

The HBO hit The Last of Us, based on the popular video game, was filmed entirely in Alberta, Canada between July 2021 and June 2022. According to Travel Alberta, this was the largest film production in the province’s history — and one of the largest in Canada — with scenes shot everywhere from downtown Calgary to Edmonton’s Legislature Building to Fort Macleod.

Travel Alberta has compiled an interactive map showing the various filming locations and will be updating it with new locations as the episodes air. There is also an accompanying episode guide that delves deeper into the neighborhoods, buildings, and businesses featured in the show. This makes it easy for The Last of Us fans to embark on a self-guided tour, and while you’re sadly unlikely to encounter Pedro Pascal during your adventure, you can at least see what these locations look like without the post-apocalyptic sheen.

United Airlines flight crashes just 800 feet over the Pacific Ocean

The news this week, “Maybe we should rethink this whole flying thing,” reported that in December a United Airlines plane en route from Maui to San Francisco suddenly crashed 800 feet over the Pacific Ocean.

The incident happened on December 18, just after United Flight 1722, a Boeing 777-200, reached 2,200 feet. The Air Current reports that the plane “began a steep dive that … reached a rate of descent of nearly 8,600 feet per minute.” The aircraft was below 775 feet when it recovered. The flight was uneventful and upon landing the two pilots – who together have flown around 25,000 hours – submitted a safety report. United told NBC News that an investigation was conducted that “ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training. Safety remains our top priority.”

What makes a sustainable hotel?

At 1 Hotel San Francisco, a lemon is not just a lemon.

It’s an ingredient in several dishes at on-site restaurant Terrene, a side dish, a bowl, and even part of the salt that goes around the rim of the ZW (Zero Waste) cocktail. With sustainability driving the hotel’s mission, a team tasked with finding ways to process an ingredient “from A to Z” learned a lemon can do it — after being juiced, they’re roasted in a wood-fired oven , which makes them produce more juice. From there, that lemon zest “is basically turned into a charred ash, but it’s a lemon ash and we can capture that and mix it with a little bit of salt and it becomes a garnish,” Joel Costa, director of sales and marketing at 1 Hotel San Francisco said The Week. “No part of it is ever left.”

Before opening in June 2022, the 1 Hotel San Francisco was extensively and sustainably renovated. To reduce waste and minimize carbon emissions, locally sourced and reused materials have been used for everything from floors to elevator walls, and the interior has been gutted, with new energy-efficient lighting and plumbing systems installed. Five-minute timers are in each shower to remind people of the drought and the importance of conserving water, and there are no single-use plastic cups, bottles, or straws on the property. “Every decision we make is very well thought out – it’s a 360-degree thought process,” Costa said.

The same research went into key room details, like the sheets, and Costa said there’s a learning curve. “When we were originally looking for organic cotton sheets, we were made aware by various suppliers that organic cotton is actually more harmful to the planet than regular cotton due to the water consumption,” he explained. “Now we’re sourcing our bedding from sustainable sources, which makes more sense for the planet because we’re not encouraging organic’s growing process, which ultimately takes up more land, water and other resources. That was an interesting topic for me to get my head around.”

The fun part of sustainability is thinking big and finding ways to enhance the guest experience while being eco-friendly. There have been hits — like renting bikes made from recycled Nespresso capsules — and failures, as 1 Hotel San Francisco learned when it first introduced a charcoal product to travelers who forgot toothpaste. “It didn’t go down well because it’s black when you brush your teeth,” Costa said. “Of course it flushes out, but it kind of put people off. We then switched to offering small chewable tablets that are not wasteful.”

This aligns with 1 Hotel San Francisco’s goal of minimizing waste, particularly in the kitchen. “We tried to incorporate as much hyperlocality as possible from the start once we had a chef on board,” Costa said. “Before we opened, we started visiting local farmers and forging relationships so we could source unique ingredients for our menus, coming from under 50 miles or 100 miles at most. … We’re lucky. In Northern California this is possible.”

When there’s not much travel time, produce stays fresh and doesn’t spoil before it makes it to the dining room — and when a few sprigs of herbs or micro-veggies are needed, a cooking garden continues to grow on the hotel’s rooftop alongside beehives that produce honey for drinks and produce desserts. Costa said that as of December, the kitchen diverted about 71 percent of its waste from landfills through composting and recycling, and “we’re very proud of that.” Seventy-one percent and only six months old is a really good number.”

Catherine Garcia was a guest at the 1 Hotel San Francisco.

Plan accordingly: Upcoming events to add to your calendar

The New York International Children’s Film Festival, in its 26th year March 3-19, will present a long lineage of thoughtful and intelligent live-action and animated films. The aim of the festival is to help young people to better understand themselves and their surroundings through films, while presenting different storytellers. The films will be shown in theaters throughout New York City, and attendees can also participate in events such as Q&As with filmmakers. For 2023, new films from France, Mexico and Japan will be shown, as well as the international premiere of Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Giberritia.

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