Site Selection Magazine is an award winning, nationally circulated publication used as a decision making tool for business leaders in determining trends and indicators for real estate investment and business expansions and moves– and they just ranked Texas as eighth in the top ten states in terms of sustainability. 
The Austin/Round Rock Metro area was named seventh for cities with high sustainability rankings. The ranking was based on a number of criteria that included the number of LEED certified projects, renewable energy generation per capita, incentives available for green projects, alternative vehicles in use, and renewable energy manufacturing and associated businesses.
The top ten are California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Vermont, Texas, Massachusetts and New Mexico.
Site Selection Managing Editor Adam Bruns says “Top-ranking areas for sustainability don’t just pass restrictive laws or put token solar panels on every edifice. They nurture an ecosystem of business, institutions, government and individual citizens all striving to place a proper value on their locality’s limited resources, and sometimes to make or save money in the process.”
So, Go Texas and Go Austin Metro! Bring on the leadership to move us to number one!
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responsible methods.
a green home can be built for less than 1% additional cost– and you’ll see the difference when you are ready to sell. Many of our local Central Texas builders are making green and energy efficient features standard on new construction. We can tell you which ones, and compare what they offer. You will see a difference in your monthly energy bill, and in the value of your home when you are ready to sell.
make on a daily basis are so important, and sometimes it’s hard to do what we know we need to. Here’s some support on everything from reusing plastic, remembering totes, using less paper, adjusting household temps up or down, to switching to CFL’s. For the I-know-I-should-but… crowd!
t, structural materials, is projected to grow by 29.2% in that same time period. The second largest segment is interior materials, then exterior, with projected growth rates of 24% and 20.6% respectively . 
In the Energy Policy Examiner, Clifford Bryan writes about the many green jobs that are showing up as sustainable building practices increase demand for green construction workers.
Memorial Day was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers. It was originally known as Decoration Day, and it is a day of remembrance for those who have given their lives in our nation’s service. 
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Cut down on chemicals: Greener grilling? Choose your heat source carefully; make sure it’s 100% wood based, like wood briquettes or 
Pack out, Recycle, handle trash responsibly: Make sure guests and campers have an EASY way to recycle. Be the leader, set a tone of respect for not generating more waste than neccessary. 
people agree that recycling of electronics is important, but don’t know an easy way to make that happen. Here’s a great site that takes moments to look up your old device and find out what value, if any it has. You can ship it free to recycle, or sell or upgrade. It’s easy, it’s green, it’s great!
The Sisters at the 30,000 foot, two-story monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin never intended to set a LEED record. Apparently, they have always prized sustainability–just 
Dell is also offering NextLife refurbished ink cartridges for many popular printer models that print up to 20% more pages than new, reduce waste in our landfills, and reduce resources used to produce new. EPA estimates in 2003 said we dump 400 million cartridges into landfills each year. If even 1% of that number was refurbished, it would be the equivalent in CO2 reduction of planting 15,000 trees. That makes NextLife Ink cartridges a economically AND environmentally good choice! Go to the Dell site and type in NextLife into the site search.