Just because there are a large number of huge cities does not mean that the USA is not environmentally friendly. In fact, there are a handful of places in the States that are very progressive, forward thinking and green. Those with a passion for all things environmentally friendly will get a real kick out of visiting these places, speaking to the locals and immersing themselves in green culture. The best way to experience these places is on an adventure holiday with a company like Grand American Adventures.
Here are a few of the more eco-friendly cities in the USA:
San Francisco
San Francisco in California is famously one of the most progressive places in the entire world. Over the years it has taken huge steps to reduce carbon monoxide emissions whilst improving green energy, land use, green transportation and converting landfill waste through recycling. This is a brilliant place to visit for anyone with a passion for being eco-friendly.
New York City
You may not think that legendary NYC is particularly green with such a huge popula-tion and number of buildings, but it actually ranks very highly due to the number of government and citizen initiatives to go green. One of the key ways this has been achieved is through encouraging citizens to use green methods of transportation. NYC is also famous for launching the Million Trees Program in 2007, which they are cur-rently ahead of schedule on.
Seattle
Nicknamed “The Emerald City”, Seattle is one of the more eco-conscious cities with green commercial buildings, an impressive recycling program and roughly 10% of the city being covered by parks. Many of the locals here feel passionate about going green.
Minneapolis
Minneapolis was one of the first US cities to make environmental sustainability a top priority and it has achieved great things in recent times – it has the lowest level of elec-tricity consumption relative to its GDP and uses a lot of solar power in its main build-ings. They also do not use cars much and instead participate in a bike share program.
Portland
Portland boasts the highest rate of biking to work in the states and it has implemented extensive green urban planning in recent times. The majority of its energy comes from renewable energy and it uses 20% more than the national average. It was also one of the first major cities to completely ban plastic bags. People love visiting Portland due to the 250 miles of bike paths, trails and lanes, as well as the clean air and water.