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.

Reminder: Start living up to your end of the deal, yo!

     I was kindly reminded today that perhaps I should blog more often.  To be honest, this blog gets put on the back burner a lot.  Shame on me.  *Sad Face*


     This blog post will be very random, as I am certainly feeling very 'random' myself.  Maybe 'out of sorts' is the term that would best fit, but then I would have to say that I'm not sure I ever felt 'in sorts' either.  


     I have been somewhat the busy Bee lately.  I am now a college student.  Yes, it's official, my hottness has increased x10.  ;)  I've been writing tons more poetry than usual.  I've started another project where I am writing a blog as a Southern Belle from the 1800's... however I'm reluctant to post the link, because well... I'm just not sure how that's going to pan out right now.  I started it as a literary experiment and I'm thinking I should just drop the idea, but for some reason it felt nice, like a better form of Halloween Costume.


     In case it takes me forever to post something new, maybe some of my favorite blogs could keep you busy in the meantime.  :)  Enjoy!

http://theskepticalatheist.wordpress.com  (This blog is serious, but still very enjoyable to me.  I probably have a crush.)
http://thebloggess.com/  (Her humor can make the worst of my days seem like a cake walk, love reading this blog!)
http://itsblogworthy.blogspot.com/  (Mostly because her stories remind me of the days I lived in Florida, and often funny as well.)

    

The Oil Spill 2010

Surely this is going to go down in history and become one of those defining moments in many peoples lives.  When my generation will turn to the next and say "I remember when..."

To be honest, this entire incident is a disaster.  It's awful to sit and watch the media coverage of the oil spill and see all the devastation or hear all the stories about the press conferences and how the CEO claims that he "just wants his life back".  Really?  How can you even conceivably think that you would get your life back after this?  Not saying he's solely to blame, but the CEO by definition is the person who represents the company and all it's flaws.  If you didn't think you were cut out for the job, why take it?  Why sit back in your fancy office making big bucks all this time if you couldn't stand up and be a man when things go wrong?

It really comes down to the commercial that thetruth.com had out for the longest time about tobacco.  The commercial asked people if they could be the CEO of a company that kills millions, etc.  These are things you really must think about when taking a job like that.  You are the person who represents the company for better or worse.  It's your face that people think of when things are good and/or bad.  It's a heavy burden to bare in times like this, but that is why they pay you so much money.  The expect you to make the company look good and to be able to turn a bad situation around, any way you can.





It is just upsetting that a guy who gets paid way more than he's worth can't even do the job he's paid to do when it comes to tough times.  I am disappointed.  I am NOT saying that he is to blame, but that he is the person who is suppose to take the blame, and turn the public eye from himself to helping fix the problem.  He has seriously failed.

On another note, the people who are blaming BP, I think are a little out of bounds.  Since when do we blame a company for all the things that go wrong in the world?  Granted, they were greedy and pushed the limits, they did things that were unethical and just wrong... since when is that something that Americans don't understand?  It's been happening for years, it's the way our government set it up.  There have been numerous companies that have done what they wanted for money and/or power to get what or where they wanted.

Not only have there been companies in the past who have done this very same (all be it, shady) thing, there have also been companies that have taken lives of people as well.  When a coal mine caves in and kills a handful of hardworking coalminers, we don't blame the company... When our soldiers don't come back from overseas, we don't blame the Army (or whatever branch they were involved with).  Why are we blaming BP solely for this?  Again, I am not saying they don't deserve the blame or at least a portion of it, just trying to throw out there that rather than pointing the finger of blame, perhaps we would be better served to work together and try to get past this.

If people put in the time and effort to help fix the problem rather than blaming and making terrible jokes at the people involved, maybe more would get done.  Perhaps if we all chipped in, in our own way things would get cleaned up, patched or even perhaps we would have no need for oil anymore (that is the ultimate goal, I believe).

So here's my thinking... Rather than pointing the finger like some people are doing in this terrible time, why not pick up a rag and start doing our part to clean up the mess.  After we've taken care of the environmental impact of this then we should start to worry about the legal aspect of what has happened.  Only then should we worry about who is really to blame.

Because if Enron is any indication, this could be an ongoing finger-pointing fiasco for years to come.

Think about it.

About Stacey (because there was fair warning)! :)

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a lovely woman through my employer.  Stacey, came to work with me as a part-time sales associate at my retail job.  In getting to know Stacey, I have to admit, I am smitten over her parenting techniques.  So smitten, in fact, that this entire blog post will be dedicated to her.  :)

Stacey is a Princess, she really has taught me a lot about self-esteem and self respect.  She carries herself with confidence and pride.  She is one of those bright people that other people are immediately attracted to.  When we work together, she literally steals the show with her personality.  Simply put, she is amazing.

However, the amazing-ness that is Stacey, doesn't end there... She is a wonderful parent.  One night while working together we were "closing up shop" and while gathering the garbage Stacey makes a comment about recycling it.  (A woman after my own heart.)  I mention to her that our work has a recycling program for cardboard that was recently announced and implemented, however they have yet to refine their recycling to more than just cardboard products unfortunately.  Upon hearing this, Stacey is saddened and the look on her face is an upset look.  I had never seen her look down before this.  Stacey insists on going through the garbage and taking pieces of it home with her to recycle rather than throwing them in with the rest of the garbage.  I am intrigued.

We make conversation about recycling and the importance of it.  Preaching to the choir, I tell her... and also make reference that she might want to check out my blog.  She is surprised that I write about recycling, I explain to her that I write about everything.  ;)  Recycling is very important to me though, so of course I write about it.  I am a huge supporter of everything Green and proud of it!  Admittedly, I feel a little ashamed that I hadn't been stealing garbage to recycle it before Stacey did it.

In conversation, Stacey mentions a trip her family went on to California.  She said while they were driving they noticed all the garbage along the highway and it sickened her and her children.  She said that her children wanted to stop and pick up garbage along the road.  My heart literally melted.  Stacey has two sons, neither of which is very old, so to hear that they are so responsible already just makes me want to cry tears of joy that someone is raising their children correctly.  (Not trying to imply that everyone else is doing it wrong, by any means.)  Stacey told me that California is a lovely place to visit, but they need to take better care of their highway system when it comes to litter.

Stacey mentioned that she had spoken to a person she knew who works with the correction system about having inmates clean up the highways like many other states do, and the response she got in return was that gang activity is so high in California that if the inmates were to do anything out in public, they would be murdered.  So there is no answer to the litter issue at the moment, other than volunteers willing to risk their lives to clean up the mess.

The reason why I felt the need to write about this wonderful woman is because she is doing exactly what I would do, if I had children.  She is passing along the correct information to her kids that they are just as responsible for keeping where we live nice.  Her children now have the knowledge that things don't just magically happen, you have to make them happen.  By teaching her children the importance of recycling she is handing down something greater than just knowledge.  She is giving us all hope through her growing children that someday this planet will be a better place to live in.  Thank you Stacey for your amazing-ness!  You Rock!

Computers: Friend or Foe?

I have never been one to scoff at technology.  I am a firm believer that the advancements we have made are helping us to live easier lives and also helping to reduce, reuse and recycle (obviously).  I love that technology has come so far that I can now check my bank account with a few button presses on my high tech cellular telephone rather than taking the time to balance my checkbook with pen and paper (yes, I used to do that).

However, like any great invention there will be downfalls too.  The downfall to doing all my banking via internet and not needing to balance on paper?  Well let me point out the obvious before going into my rant.  The obvious downfall is that I'm not up to par on my insta-math skills so much these days as I maybe once was.  It would probably take me longer now to do simple math than in the days when I did it daily.  Yes it's sad, but I've never been a fan of math which is why I love the technology that takes math out of my day.

Now for the rant part.

I have the most technologically advanced options for my checking account.  My attached debit card makes life so much quicker than the days of formally writing out checks.  Now I no longer need to spell out any of the retail names, rather swipe and go.  Easy Peesy, Mac n' cheesy.  I also have online banking.  I can check my account balance any time of the day or night with just a few clicks of my computer mouse or my high tech cellular phone that has internet access on a 24/7 free basis (well not free, but included in my phone bill).  Not only can I check my account balance all the time, I have the bank send me emails on a daily basis.  The emails are normally just account balance updates.  So every morning at about 8 am (however the times have been wonky lately) I will receive an email and check it from my cellular phone.  The emails are short and sweet.  "You have $22.58.  Have a nice day."  That kind of thing... but I also have "alerts" turned on as well so when my account gets dangerously low they send me a nice alert warning me that they are going to charge me for over-drafting if I don't do something about it.  Sadly, the bank never catches me in time to properly warn me... usually they are a couple of pennies late by the time I get the email.  Figures.

As high tech as my life has gotten in terms of my banking, I've been nothing but pleased with how it's working out for me.  Until now...

I received my paycheck on Friday.  (I've been too lazy and probably a little unsure of providing my work with my banking information in order to set up a direct deposit just yet.)  As soon as my check was in hand, I went to the bank.  My receipt says I was at the bank teller at 10am.  I cashed my check and then deposited the cash.  For those of you thinking "that sounds like more of a hassle than anything", you may be somewhat correct however my account is an out of state account at my bank therefore any checks are held for 5 days.  Whereas Cash is instantly deposited and available just in case.  :)  I have been banking with my current bank long enough to know the ins and outs.  So I know how to work the system in my favor without it being against the rules.  Yay me!

Back to my story.  I cashed the check.  Keeping out just enough cash to pay my bills and depositing roughly $200 into my account for use on things I would need throughout the next two weeks (such as food and gas).  After depositing cash and feeling sure that I now had money, I went to the gas station and immediately filled up my tank.  Swipe, pump and drive.  So easy and stress free, or so I thought.

On Saturday morning (yes even on the weekends my bank is working for me), I received an email.  I thought "oh goody, now I can see if my phone bill payment has come out of my account since I paid it online".  I opened up the email and to my shock and surprise it was a nice little "alert" from my bank.  It read something like "Warning:  Your account is negative and if this issue is not resolved as of 5/6/2010, you will be required to pay an over draft fee for every transaction... blah blah blah".  I immediately logged onto my online banking to see that my account was already slammed with not one but THREE separate over draft fees of about $35 a piece.

I studied my online banking page for a good 10 minutes.  Reading that my deposit was listed, but listed as "pending" rather than being listed as in my account like it should have been since it was a cash deposit.  That alone was the problem at hand.  Had the cash posted to my account, nothing would have been negative.  Not my phone bill payment, my full tank of gas, my lunch that day, or any other charge that may have come out.

I signed off the computer and went directly to my nearest bank location.  Thankfully they are EVERYWHERE.  I only drove a block away.  At the bank center, I stood talking to a lady who looked as if she really didn't want to deal with my problem, seeing as how it was Saturday and near closing time for her, plus there was a long line of people behind me trying to get things resolved or money for the weekend.  She was polite, regardless of the look on her face and she found the problem, I showed her the receipt for my deposit and she agreed with me about how this was incorrect.  She called the corporate offices (or a 1-800 number for their company) and discussed my issue and how to resolve it.  This conversation took longer than I had thought it would.  I stood at the bank for over 10 minutes while she talked to the lady at the 800 number, then was put on hold, then talked some more.

Finally, she hung up the phone.  She comes over to me and says  "Ok, well here is the deal.  This is completely the bank's fault.  The lady I just spoke with assured me that they are going to remove the over draft fees just as soon as they can..."  She was speaking in a tone that said 'good news and bad news'.  So I asked "when is that".  Well, with this being the weekend, they cannot do much until Monday.  However, they are going to program it in the computer that on Monday these fees are just going to drop off your account.  Until then, it'll still show a negative balance but once all the pending items are processed, those fees drop off ... then your account will be correct again.  "Really"?

I'm standing there with my mouth hung half open, trying to process all of this, doing the math in the back of my brain about the amount of hours I will be without a dime until the computer error resets itself sometime on Monday.  Finally I ask "so this means I won't be able to use my card for the entire weekend"?  The lady gives me the sad "sorry your dog just died face" and says "yes, I'm afraid so.  There is nothing they can do to fix this any sooner.  I asked her numerous times."  Uhm... ok!?!

Needless to say, suddenly I'm a little upset at my high tech banking.  I keep thinking if only I had just kept the cash back then I wouldn't be so antsy for this problem to work out.  And of course, now is the time that the urge to eat pizza or at a Red Robin hits me.  I'm unsure what is worse, not having money or having it but not being allowed to use it.

Yes, it is Monday and things should be fixed... but after having checked my account online at 1 pm and things are still "Processing" on my account with fees still waiting as well, I am a mess with what to do.  I am trying to remain patient but as my hunger urges are getting worse, my patients is wearing thin.

This entire mess is really making me rethink my position on computers.  I am unsure if being so high tech that they can take away every penny I have with a "glitch" is really a good idea now.

Think about it.

Google: Taking over the world (in a good way)

Dear Google,

I want to come work for you.  I caught a glimpse of a program on the Green channel or one of the discovery channels just a few days past about renewable resources and how things are changing for the better in many places.  The program interviewed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (he just earned my vote) about his stance on the issue of the amount of vehicles and pollution in his great state of California.  The Governor laid out a plan that he has been working on to convince people to trade in their gas guzzling autos for better alternatives, such as Hybrid vehicles.  The program really touched on everything in terms of how to reduce our carbon footprints in a big way and make our world a better place for our children and their children.

The best part of the program was the part that went into detail about Google.  Little did I know, the Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA is the largest solar power system constructed on a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.  Way to go Google!  Google has initiated a better way of living for all of it's employees with corporate cars that are all electric hybrid or completely electric cars.  These electric cars are parked in a solar car port where they are plugged in and left to charge throughout the work day and when employees are finished for the day, they simply unplug and away they go.  It's AMAZING!  I'm in love!


I decided to do a little research and stumbled upon this video, check it out!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YGqY5vmEcg&feature=player_embedded
The video is obviously made by an employee (who I'd love to work with, *wink*) who loves her job as much as I would if I worked for Google, because they are so environmentally conscious and responsible.  Yay Google!  In the video, the girl talks about how there are bikes that she can ride from one building to another (and during the warm California weather, who wouldn't) for meetings and whatnot.  The Cafes' on the campus of her work are all environmentally conscious as well, how freaking amazing is that?  I'm drooling.  ;)


On the Google Wikipedia site it states that in 2009 Google announced it was going to release a herd of goats to keep the grass of the complex nice and trimmed to help reduce the risk of wildfires and the pollution of the gas from mowers.  Seriously, what do I have to do to get a job with Google?  That is a wonderful idea... Google people are so smart.  Google literally gives their employees time to work on things that inspire them, their own personal fun projects.  Perhaps you are familiar with Gmail?  Gmail was a "fun project" that just so happened to help Google out tremendously... so, why aren't other companies catching on?


Why does it seem that Google is so far advanced as a company in terms of keeping employees happy and helping out the environment?  I am suddenly happier to be a proud user of Google Chrome (and gmail).  I look forward to many more years of Google leading the way in innovations not only in the technology of computers but in the fight to make our world a better and cleaner place to live.  One day, Google will rule the world... they are already king in my heart.  :)


Google is awesome!  Think about it.

The Happening (Well it will be, very soon!)

So here is what is going on in my life right now... I'm writing a blog.  I'm excited about writing this, it's my way of standing on the front of the ship and screaming "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!"  

Since I originally started this blog for my sister (you know I love you & Congratulations on your marriage once again), this post is directed at her and the rest of my family that is too busy to keep up with me in person (aka phone, although with the 2 hour time difference I understand and please no more texts at 6am my time) or via Facebook or Myspace.  :p  haha

As of late, I've been going through quite an ordeal of stress that was typically attributed to my horrible part-time retail management position at the local mall.  The stressful situation came to a boiling point just before my recent trip to be in the above mentioned wedding.  (I didn't say much while in town because who am I to take the spotlight off the beauty of two people who will actually stay in a marriage?)  So... I've already done the venting about this particular situation to my mother and to my diary.  It's out and done.  However, what I failed to mention to my venting sources is that I intended to DO something about the stress.  

With a little push from one of my roommates, I was encouraged to look into going back to college for the Fall Semester.  Having just done my taxes and having that information in hand made the FAFSA all that much easier to complete.  After talking to Roomie who has been and done all this, I was feeling anxious and excited (little did I know what was to come).

FAFSA information was sent to my e-mail in as little as 2 days and the GREAT news is that I am HIGHLY qualified to attend college with full financial support from grants.  Yay for our government!  Roomie adds "good thing you are over 24 so you no longer need parent financial information".  Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that... 

So now I'm doing the math, literally.  I graduated in 2001 from high school.  I'm just now starting college (damn that procrastinating teenaged mentality of mine)!  I'm inches away from my 10 year high school reunion and sweating about trying to remember all the ins and outs of school again.  Not only that, (as I reminded my best friend today) now when asked to hang out after school, my immediate response will be "how old are you"? 

The upside of being asked out by an Eighteen or Nineteen year old is that it makes you feel young(?) perhaps, but it has this strange way of making you feel old as well.  :(  If you don't believe me, picture this.  You are 18 or 19, see me (I'm not bad looking in my opinion) and ask me out... I say "really?  I'm almost 30 years old, and you're too little to even dream of being able to buy drinks."  :(  See?  Now I'm an old lady.  Bleh!

The BEST part of my story is this:  I am going back to school.  I am going to succeed at accomplishing my dreams in life and I'm going to do it with government help since I deserve it!  :)  (Trust me, I truly do with all I've been through if you don't know me.)

AND... because I learned how to pinch even the thinnest pennies thanks to my mom being the single parent equivalent of Super(wo)Man, I should be fine to do it full-time and no longer need my crummy, stressful, piece of... work, job!  :)

Not only that, but I have a plan.  I have my future all mapped out, already.  (I've had 10 years to daydream and fantasize about what I wanted to be when I finally decided to grow up.)  I'm getting my Associates at Community College (laugh all you want, I'm going for free!) The college I'm going to has a program that will transfer to my nearby state school (Arizona State) and there I can accomplish obtaining my BA in Education.  

Arizona has this silly rule about needing your AA before you substitute teach or become a teacher's aide, so I can be teaching my way through my BA if need be... and since State School will be more expensive, the need may indeed be there.  :)  However, I still don't see this as a bad thing.  

I am thoroughly excited, filled with pride and this indescribable energy that I never knew I had to succeed and accomplish something that I've been wanting for so long now.  I can't help but see this as the best step forward I have ever made.  

The bad news is, classes don't start for another 3 months (more math) which means I'm stuck putting up with my current stress and wages until then, but with a smile on my face at what will be coming up in no time... surely extending the time I wanted to work there won't seem too bad. 

And of course, after taking re-entry exams today and testing out of reading courses, I'm even more excited.  When the lady at the testing facility handed me my results and said "you tested exempt for reading courses", I think I nearly choked.  Not that I doubted my reading ability, but after nearly 10 years, it's nice to feel smart even if only for brief seconds.  :)

So that is what is going on in my life.  Now it's out there for everyone to know... and suddenly I am the (unofficial) spokesperson for continuing education.  Don't believe me, ask my 15 year old sister who got an ear full today about how important it is that she NOT "take a year off".  My big sister words of wisdom were "If I can do it, you can do it... and I AM doing it"!  

I suspect my little sister may grow to dislike phone conversations with me over the next few years while I am "doing it", she seemed to not want to discuss it at all today.  I suspect it will only get worse the older and "wiser" she thinks she is.  :)

In closing, remember, "If I can do it, you can do it".  Think about it.