How green is my valley?

I don't mean to sound like a liberal tree hugging Californian, but where are the recycling bins? I know that in the residential areas recycling is available (I think it may even be an extra cost?), but in our apartment complex and every place of business we have been in, there are no recycling bins.

Come on, the world may someday come to an end and the least we can do is recycle all of the water bottles we have to drink here in the desert to stay alive! How easy would it be for restaurants, business and casinos to have recycling bins. Think of all the beer cans and water bottles being tossed, how easy it would be to toss them in a separate bin.

I am not perfect and have been known to let the water run a little bit while brushing my teeth- I am working on always turning it off- but one of the simplest things to do would be to put out bins. My husband did find a recycling center to drive to so I guess our patio will be filled with plastic water containers, wine and beer bottles and other items in between trips to the center. Please bugs- do not come and visit our empties while we store them- I have seen enough of you in our place.

Are all the houses so similar? A much nicer way to ask

Coming to Vegas has been a transition for us, as any move would be. We had a 1928 house in Pasadena. Full of charm, but no space, insulation, closets, working windows etc...

Where we live in Henderson is very pretty, but all of the houses look very similiar. While we were house hunting, we were shocked that the majority of the houses we saw all looked liked they had been built by the same company. 75% still had the same builder white paint, standard carpet, linoleum, cabinets and countertops. I want to be clear that we have seem some beautiful homes (including my in-laws), but with all the houses having been built in the last 15 years, it isn't the same eclectic mix we are used to in the Los Angeles area.

My husband has a dry sense of humor which doesn't always read well in emails. He made a posting on a Las Vegas message board asking why all the houses are so ugly. I realize that it was rude, and so does he, so I want to apologize. He really did mean that all the houses were so similar and lacking in the characther we are used to. We moved here, we will appreciate the style, thank you for having us, and again we apologize.