Sarasota Livin'

I will tell you now Sarasota was not in the running we are too small (and maybe not there yet)...

Sustainlane has come out with their rankings for the Top 10 Sustainable Cities in the US .. please read this as they do alot to define sustainablity..

"In addition to air and water quality, local food, LEED buildings, renewable energy/climate, and green fleets, SustainLane looked at waste diversion rates. These programs now include not only recycling but also highly innovative composting systems linking city restaurants with regional farmers and vineyards. And, we analyzed planning, zoning, and land use, which impact everything from the availability of recreation opportunities to how much people are dependent, or not dependent, on driving everywhere for everything.

Two final categories, city innovation and knowledgebase, examined how well cities are developing everything from new financial and behavioral incentives, to communications and information management processes and technologies.

Each of our study categories are connected to energy use, which in turn affects the production of greenhouse gases, the root cause of global climate change. For instance, even our tap water must be pumped many miles or hundreds of miles to our cities and our homes, requiring massive amounts of energy for some locations.

Our 12 study categories also relate to local air pollution emissions, as they impact our health day-to-day as well as on a lifetime basis. People’s health and city sustainability seem to be closely linked. Fresh local food, for instance, has been shown to have higher nutritional value than food that is packaged, stored and shipped. Food from farmers markets and community gardens also has a milder impact on the environment than food that is processed, packaged, transported and sold on a global basis. Cutting “food miles” reduces the life cycle energy and packaging required; this diminishes air pollution, resource use and ecosystem impacts from fossil fuel dependence. "