Top 25 Green Cities (because you know you wanted to know)

Just to cite my sources, I gathered the following information from The Green Guide (a National Geographic blessing).


The following is a list of cities with over 100,000 in population:

Highlights of the Top 25 Green Cities (Cities I am proud of because I used to live there)

1. Eugene, OR (score 9.0375, pop. 137,893)

     - Sustainable business incubator

     - Renewable energy supplying 85% of city's power

     - Extensive wetlands program

2. Austin, TX (score 8.5325, pop. 656,562)

     - Green Builder program

     - Smart growth initiative

     - Committed to solar power

3. Portland, OR (score 8.24, pop. 529,121)

     - Green building

     - Excellent public transport

     - Smart growth

4. St. Paul, MN (score 7.805, pop. 287,151)

     - Green space makes up a quarter of urban area

     - Significant greenhouse gas reductions

     - Affordable housing

5. Santa Rosa, CA (score 7.785, pop. 147,595)

     - Green building program

     - Clean air and water

     - Bicycle paths and lanes

6. Oakland, CA (score 7.3675, pop. 399,484)

     - Building local food production

     - Green building ordinance

     - Public transport

7. Berkeley, CA (score 7.285, pop. 102,743)

     - Green building requirements for municipal construction

     - Well used public transport system

     - Community gardens

8. Honolulu, HI (score 7.055, pop. 371,657)

     - Clean air and water

     - Biomass power generation

     - Green building standards

9. Huntsville, AL (score 7.035, pop. 158,216)

     - Green space makes up one-third of urban area

     - High public transport use

     - Excellent public education program

10. Denver, CO (score 7.0325, pop. 554,636)

     - Greenprint Denver, sustainability initiative

     - Large hybrid municipal fleet and nation's largest light rail system

     - Clean water and access to wilderness

11. Boston, MA (score 6.99, pop. 589,141)

     - Green building

     - Excellent public transport

     - Smoking ban

12. Lexington, KY (score 6.785, pop. 260,512)

     - Comprehensive growth management plan

     - Clean air

     - Smoking ban

13. Springfield, IL (score 6.7225, pop. 111,454)

     - Clean air and good water

     - Green design

     - Green spaces

14. Irvine, CA (score 6.72, pop. 143,072)

     - Comprehensive green building program

     - Smoking ban

     - Pedestrian oriented

15. Cambridge, MA (score 6.72, pop. 101,355)

     - High rate of public transport use

     - Green design

     - High percentage of green space

16. Anchorage, AK (score 6.705, pop. 260,283)

     - Excellent air and water quality

     - Smoking ban

     - High public health

17. Syracuse, NY (score 6.66, pop. 147,306)

     - Good air

     - Smoking ban

     - Commitment to reduce greenhouse gases

18. San Francisco, CA (score 6.6, pop. 776,733)

     - Municipal composting

     - Green design

     - High percentage of renewable energy use

     - Very high public transport use

19. Minneapolis, MN (score 6.58, pop. 382,618)

     - City-specific minimum wage

     - Smoking ban

     - High percentage of renewable biomass energy

20. Milwaukee, WI (score 6.5125, pop. 596,974)

     - Green housing development

     - Green space

21. Rochester, NY (score 6.43, pop. 219,773)

     - High percentage of renewable energy

     - Clean air

     - Smoking ban

22. Albuquerque, NM (score 6.3475, pop. 484,607)

     - Clean water

     - Smoking Ban

     - Wind power

23. Ann Arbor, MI (score 6.2875, pop. 114,024)

     - High percentage of public transport and bicycle commuters

     - High yard waste recover

     - Green space

24. Seattle, WA (score 6.115, pop. 563,374)

     - Large number of green buildings

     - Very high percentage of hydroelectric power use

     - Clean air and smoking ban

25. Kansas City, MO (score 6.055, pop. 441,545)

     - Clean water

     - City specific minimum wage

     - U.S. Mayors Climate Protection signatory

I was pretty surprised to find this list, but glad I did.  It's been a horrible day for me and seeing some of the cities I used to live in on the list of Green Cities is just nice.  It warms my soul to know that things are changing in the US.

Think about it.

Amazing Inventions! (Now we're talking!)

Ok, check this out!  OMG, Totally Awesome, huh?  Looks like a normal plastic cup but it's actually made out of corn!  Yep, like popCorn, Corn-on-the-cob, CORN!  Yay Corn!

So not only is this cup (non-edible by the way at least I'm pretty sure as of yet), recycle-able, it's also biodegradable!  Which means, if some jerk tosses it out his window while driving down a back country road, it's okay, this cup is safe for the environment and when our kid's kids decide to dig up that part of the country road, they won't find a plastic cup buried under the ages of dirt, rather they may find a nice tree that was fertilized by the cup while it disintegrated and released only good things (corn bi-products, I'm sure) into the soil.

Ok, last word about the Corn Cups.  Just IMAGINE if every place switched to these amazing cups rather than using plastic.  I'm freaking excited about the possibilities!

Speaking of possibilities, now that we know Corn can be used to make things like alternative plastics how about we try something a little tougher...

Introducing the Ford Model U.  It's only a concept car as far as I've read (introduced in 2003), however it is AMAZING!  You may not believe me now, but hold on to your pants, cause here I go on my eco-loving rant of why this car is a hippies dream come true (if it makes it past concept and into mass production).  

My boyfriend actually was the one that told me about this car, so big smooches go out to him for sharing this information and getting me super excited enough to do the research about it.  :)

As I was saying, YES this car is eco-friendly.  Mostly made up of plant bi-products, believe it or not (I feel like I could be on Ripley's as much as I'm saying that, but this is seriously incredible new technology I'm talking about)!

The Goodyear produced tires are made out of a corn based materials (again Yay Corn), along with the canvas roof of the vehicle and the carpet floor mats... can I get a double yay corn?!  :)

"The tailgate and side panels are made from soy-based resins. Soy is also the secret ingredient in the foam for the seats. And, the University of Northern Iowa, whom one may associate with corn, actually came up with a soy-based grease for the vehicle and Shell Global produced the vehicles' oil from sunflower seeds." -- www.hydrogencarsnow.com

So this car is biodegradable as well!  (According to the above stated website.)  That doesn't necessarily mean that your car will break down on you over time while you are using it, what it DOES mean is that if your car ends up on bricks for years and years down the road, or in a landfill someday, or a vehicle graveyard then it would eventually break down and return to the earth as soil enriching properties.  OMG Yay Ford!  So now we don't have the issue of more rust from older cars breaking down and leaking into our ground water or the old metal there to possibly hurt someone who is out mowing or something (yeah, I'm reaching, but you get the point).

Now the kicker as to why EVERYONE will have to own this vehicle... (excited yet?)

 "The Model U uses a 2.3-liter, I-4 engine, the same as the Ford Ranger of that year, only modified to run on hydrogen gas. The engine is supercharged and super-cooled and rated at 151 hp. The Ford Model U is able to achieve gas mileage of 45 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) and has a range of 300 miles." -- www.hydrogencarsnow.com

 So it burns cleaner, no gas fumes, no pollution!  Hydrogen only emits water vapor (I've heard), again I'm a total woman when it comes to this part of vehicles (which is why I choose to copy and paste from my sources).  :)

Now 300 miles to a full tank of gas may not be ideal for some people, but it's a cleaner way to travel for sure!  I am literally blown away at how advanced we have come with technology... especially when I discovered that this car was introduced in 2003, and now when everyone is lining up for the next new hybrid I say, it's time to make this concept a reality!  Not only is this car probably WAY better in so many ways from the Prius or even the new Ford Fusion hybrid, it's also quite stylish in Honda CRV (small SUV) meets Hummer (boxy SUV) sort of way!  I'm sure we could even find a eco-friendly paint for this little baby to make it a little more eye catching.  ;)

I'm about to contact Ford and suggest they move toward production rather than leaving the Model U a concept.  I suggest everyone else do the same, let's start a movement for cleaner, greener vehicles!  :)

Yay Kansas!

Growing up in Kansas, was not necessarily my idea of fun times, however, compared to where I call my hometown a farm in an even smaller town of Oklahoma, Kansas had it's bonuses for sure.  It was nice to have a mall nearby to torment during those teen years.  It was nice to have a movie theater close by in Kansas as well.  Compared to the 30 min or more drive that would be necessary to even find a Wal-Mart in my hometown.

During my high school years, I kept making a promise to myself (like all children of a small town) that I would one day move away and not look back.  I was determined to "Get the heck out of Dodge" as they say.  I was sure that the size of the town, the lack of opportunities, the gossip of the people there, the general small stuffy feeling was what was keeping me unhappy.  Come to find out years later, it doesn't really matter where you live, you can be happy or unhappy anywhere.  Happiness is what you make of it.

However, I have still felt that pulling teeth was what it would take to get me to move back.  There is truly nothing in Kansas for me now, just memories of the past which isn't what I necessarily want to keep re-living.  There is this one thing, that has brought the thought of moving back to my mind... This one thing that has made me think that maybe living and raising my children (someday) in Kansas wouldn't be such a bad idea.

What's this phenomenal one thing?  Greensburg, Kansas!  Here's the story (which you can read by clicking the link for more accurate detail), in 2007 a tornado tears up quite literally all of the town (95% per article).  The town (with funding) decides to rebuild in a better, more futuristic-ly focused way, they GO GREEN!  YAY KANSAS!

 

Greensburg, Kansas is the first official Green town in Kansas, and one of the first in the US to start this new trend of building all their buildings in a greener, less detrimental way to the environment.  So maybe this statement will make me seem really country, but even the John Deere Store in Greensburg is wind powered!  :)  It makes me happy to think that people are finally paying attention and trying to change the way we do things to make this world a better place, one thing at a time to make a bigger difference in the long run.

Not only has the rebuilding of the town gotten a lot of media hype and it's own reality show on a sister channel of Discovery with Leonardo DiCaprio as the Executive Producer, it's also creating more green jobs, which promotes the greener way of living.  By one town in the middle of nowhere (essentially) going green, they have literally caused a movement, opened the eyes of millions and gotten me to seriously thinking about moving back to Kansas, if only to live in one of the new green homes in Greensburg and work one of the new green jobs there as well.

Not saying I will move back, but it's definitely got me to thinking that Kansas might not be so bad after all.  As for now, perhaps other towns nearer to me will become greener and convince me to stay away from Kansas. ;)  I feel it is absolutely necessary for me to post this article however, if only to say "YAY KANSAS!"  I am thrilled at this movement, because I feel it is in the correct direction.  Yay Kansas!  Think about it.

Mean Green

I absolutely love the Green movement.  I think it's hilarious!  I love how ever since I was in elementary school people have been saying "Recycle" and it's only catching on now.  I love how people work, as a whole.  I love how the movement has brought tons of amazing breakthroughs that would otherwise remain dormant in the minds of Hippies everywhere.  Solar power for example.  Before this movement, solar power was the ugly van that what's his face drove in the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids, it wasn't real... it wasn't attractive.  It was sci-fi, it was something to laugh about.  Solar power now is hott, it's powering houses, it's cutting prices left and right... it's AMAZING!  Solar power is the "way of the future".  And don't forget about Wind Power!  OMG!  Who woulda thought?

Although many of the Hybrid vehicles now aren't solar powered (just yet) they are another way of saving money where we don't need to be spending it (foreign affairs I will not go into).  Side note:  The new Toyota Prius does have solar powered air conditioning, it's only a matter of time... Ok, where was I.  Hybrids now are a great option and are a wonderful way to reduce a person's carbon footprint.  Which is a great thing to do, research it!

The options I'm in love with:

There are tons of things you can do to make our world a better place, there are tons of resources out there as well.  This is a good start: Go Green! 

As for me, my dreams involve actually starting a garden, producing my own compost and continuing to recycle.  Also, maybe starting a small side business with a worm farm (they are great for compost).

My new favorite color is green.  It's not just a movement, it's a way of life... for us and more importantly for future generations.  Think about it.