We hope you didn't fret about insufficient green cred on Earth Day this year.
Between smog, insufficient public transit and lack of a full-scale, city-wide curbside recycling program, Houston may not exactly be one of the greenest as-is, but evidently Causes.com has recognized the city for its efforts to become more environmentally conscious: We landed No. 10 on the site's ranking of the "Greenest Cities" in the nation.
The Mayor's Office of Sustainability, directed by Laura Spanjian, has made enormous strides in that area, launching a seasonal Urban Harvest Farmers Market at City Hall four years ago to bring local vendors and locally-grown produce to downtown Houston, and moving forward on "One Bin For All" single-stream recycling, which city officials estimate will eventually divert up to 75 percent of all waste to recycling.
Meanwhile, the city's fleet of electric vehicles continues to grow and Green Houston is actively expanding a B-Cycle bike share program throughout downtown, Montrose, Midtown and the Museum District.
That's not to mention Houston's growing Bikeway Program, which provides a growing network of lanes for bicycle commuters, and the hundreds of miles of hike and bike trails to come with the recently-funded Bayou Greenways Initiative.
Go on, give yourself a much-deserved pat on the back.
Bike Houston president Darren Saborn (was president)
