America’s greenest and cleanest states
Healthy food, clean water, and fresh air are essentials for every human being. Living in a healthy and unspoiled environment these days is rarely possible, but some states are better than the others.
The most nature and environmentally friendly states in the US are Vermont, Oregon, and Washington. Comparing the East with the West, it’s clear that the eastern states have better air and water quality and less energy consumption.
These three states have low carbon dioxide emissions per capita and strong policies to promote energy efficiency.
The state of Vermont is also called the Green Mountain State. One of its renewable energy sources is Searsburg Wind Power Facility, which can power some 1,400 homes a year. Vermont has also attracted many green businesses who operate inside the state’s borders.
Oregon has one of the highest recycling rates in the country reaching up to 50 percent. It’s also related to lots of green businesses.
Famous for promoting high air quality, Washington is known as the evergreen state.
New York is placed high on the green ranking list because of the low consumption of water per capita compared to other states.
Maine is another green state with its big number of LEED buildings that include solar panels, recycled materials, and partial roof-top gardens.
Colorado, famous for outdoor recreation, has great air quality, but its carbon footprint per capita is not the best in the country. Colorado doesn’t have a high amount of toxic waste and is aiming to be zero waste state.
New Hampshire wind energy incentives include generous rebates for wind turbine and wind generator installation.
New Hampshire is one of the best states for wind power for two reasons: it’s abundant wind energy and it’s fantastic wind rebates.
Rhode Island mandated that utilities obtain 16% of their power from renewable fuel sources by 2020. It has the lowest energy consumption per capita in the country.
The responsibility of “going green” doesn’t lie solely with the state or federal government, but starts with community members taking action. We need a collective drive to change and the desire to protect the planet. Environment awareness and eco-actions start with personal initiative.
We can decide to take shorter showers, not to use plastic bags, wash our clothes in cold water and be aware that each one of us makes a difference in the world. We need to be responsible for our actions and how they affect our environment.
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We live in a beautiful world, get out there and enjoy it.
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