New York State is finally in a Top 10 list that doesn't include taxes!

Earth Day is coming up on Saturday, April 22nd and it's a good time to stop and think about what you're doing to contribute to the environment in your area. Are helping or hindering the Earth with the little things you do everyday? Are there steps you could be taking as an individual or a community to better the environment?

With Earth Day just around the corner WalletHub has released the Greenest States for 2017. For this report WalletHub had their analyst "compare each of the 50 states in terms of 20 key metrics designed to illustrate each state’s environmental quality and the eco-friendliness of its policies." Three of the main qualities they looked at for each state were Environmental Quality, Eco-Friendly Behaviors and Climate-Change Contributions. The scoring in each category contributed to the overall ranking for each state.

Source: WalletHub

New York State finished 8th for the Greenest States for 2017!  Here is how they factored in some categories.

Greenness of New York:
  • 15th – Air Quality
  • 7th – Soil Quality
  • 26th – LEED-Certified Buildings per Capita
  • 17th – % of Energy Consumption from Renewable Sources
  • 1st – Energy Consumption per Capita
  • 1st – Gasoline Consumption (in Gallons) per Capita
  • 1st – Green Transportation

Those number one rankings really helped New York climb to their Top 10 ranking amongst the 50 states. The good news is New York doesn't really fall below average on any of the categories which is a pretty impressive stat to have. It looks like the only room to improve for the state would be in LEED-Certified Buildings. According to Concrete Thinking,  LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) "is a ratings system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design." You can probably contribute this rating to the age of many of the buildings in the state. New York was probably one of the main areas in the urban and industrial boom.

2017s Greenest States
WalletHub
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You can read the full report from WalletHub and really get deeper into their findings and methodology HERE.

For 2017, New York is doing pretty well in the effort to head towards being as green as possible. Earth Day is all about bringing awareness and education on how we can protect our planet and make sure it is safe for future generations. To learn more about Earth Day you can visit EarthDay.org. You can also learn more about Buffalo's Earth Month HERE and see how you can help, volunteer or contribute to the project.

 

 

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