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Billings Recognized for Going Green -- KULR 8 TV
Home on the Range
By Nick Lough
Story Published: Jan 18, 2008 at 6:57 PM MST
BILLINGS - Living a green lifestyle is something an increasing number
of people are adapting to and according to one national magazine;
Billings's citizens are doing a good job. A new survey is ranking
Billings among America's greenest cities right beside other major areas
like Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Portland.
A population eclipsing the 100,000 mark, an area boasting a low unemployment rate, and according to Organic Gardening magazine Billings is now one of the top 25 cities in the country leading the way in going green. "Billings was the fourth best rated city in our whole survey," said Organic Gardening Magazine Editor Scott Meyer.
The magazine looked at several areas when calculating how green a city is. Factors included air quality, water quality, green space, and number of U.S. Green Building Council rated buildings, something that Billings has. "People of Billings should be really proud to think we are on the leading edge with a building like Home on the Range," said Northern Plains Resource Council's Eileen Morris.
Morris says the councils building named "Home On The Range" is one of the most efficient in the country. What makes it so green? Solar panels provide power to the building, recycled cubicles, even polarized glass in the parking lot.
But for the Organic Gardening staff it was something more than green buildings. "The one thing that really stood out to us was the amount of green space and the dedication to green space. Even within the city limits of Billings, there's an awful lot of green space it make it the kind of place where you don't have to go far to touch the natural world," said Meyer.
Organic Gardening also mentioned the heritage trail system and trash into trees program as other key contributors to Billings high ranking. Portland, Maine, Burlington, Vermont, Fargo, North Dakota, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota were the other four communities mentioned in the small cities category in the survey.