Before heading to Denver I decided to check out neighboring Boulder. Having been named the “5th Greenest City in the US” by Country Home Magazine (2008), I thought I should see firsthand how it’s done. So glad I did! It’s a perfect balance of nature, healthy living, and commercialism. While there are a plethora of fast food restaurants and chain stores there are also quirky crafts stores, art galleries, and street musicians. Environmentalism and conservation are not movements they are a way of life. One turn into one of the older neighborhoods showed how green living seems to permeate all. In the neighborhood I turned into there were empty lots turned into neighborhood parks with at least one pretty good sized vegetable garden.

New eco-solar upgrades are seemingly going up on every corner.

takepart Green up your home and visit EarthLabs for tips!

We’ve discussed that perhaps sometimes Harrison Ford goes a tad overboard on ways he raises environmental awareness, so it’s a little refreshing that this time around, his activism is taking the form of sitting in front of a camera and answering questions.

The website Big Think has a multi-part interview with Ford, asking questions that range from “Is Indiana Jones an environmental hero?” to “How has your love of nature informed your acting?” But the most interesting answer, I think, comes from the question, “Can we live green and also live well?” To that Ford answers, in fact, we have to live green to live well. As he continues, Ford hits on a very important point regarding our depletion of the earth’s resources

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Are you one of those that gets a little irked when you order delivery, and they include plastic utensils with your food, even though you’re eating at your own house?  So why isn’t it that you bring your own utensils when you eat out at that same place?  Or, even, everywhere you go?  To-Go Ware thinks that maybe you ought to start doing that.  The company was founded on the thought that if people have reusable coffee cups, why shouldn’t people do the same with forks and knives?

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Want to learn our top eco-kinky tips for ‘greening up’ your sex life? How about the top 10 ways to take action against AIDS?  Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie:

Annie Lennox & Top 10 Ways to Take Action Against AIDS

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: American Idol & Yip Harburg

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Nicole:

Top 10 Ways to ‘Green Up’ Your Sex Life

Top 10 Global Warming Myths Debunked

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Giulia:

Mortified Makes Movies

What a Bunch of Boobs

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Gina:

Top 10 Immigration Films

Boarding Gate’s Empty Adventure of Capitalism

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Say Hello to Our Guest Bloggers!

Jon Popham wrote:

Young At Heart Hits the Silver Screen

Death and the River

Andy Kondrat wrote:

Top 5 Things You’ll Love About Planet Green

Leonardo DiCaprio Does Everything For the Environment, Ever

Coming on the heels of our news that DVD release of Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11^th Hour documentary (released yesterday!) was being made out of biodegradable materials, we bring you the information that DiCaprio has also purchased an eco-friendly apartment in Manhattan that’s built to be kind to the environment.

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Living well may be more of an art than a science, but living green is another matter; it turns out there are plenty of formulas and equations to help you pick the places that are more conducive to an eco-conscious lifestyle. One of the best comes courtesy of Popular Science, which has tallied up the data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide for American cities of over 100,000 people in more than 30 categories, including air quality, electricity use and transportation habits.

Armed with these facts and figures, Popular Science created four broad categories in which to compare fifty American cities, awarding up to 5 or 10 points depending on the category:

Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.

Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.

Green living (G; 5 points): Cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.

Recycling and green perspective (R; 5 points): This measures how comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental issues.

Here’s their top 10, including the ratings in each category:

1. Portland, Ore. 23.1Electricity: 7.1 Transportation: 6.4 Green Living: 4.8 Recycling/Perspective: 
4.8America’s top green city has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

2. San Francisco, Calif. 23.0Electricity: 6.8 Transportation: 8.8 Green Living: 3.5 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9See how San Francisco turns wasted roof space into power, here.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. This week we celebrated some of our own favorite top 10 bloggers who work night and day to provide us up-to-date info on films, literature, and feminist news. Don’t miss these exciting and informative blogs, as well as some of our most popular stories of the week.

Katie:

“La Misma Luna Under the Same Moon,” Not the Same Old Movie

Top 5 Eco-Friendly Gadgets for Under $50

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Nicole:

Top 10 Literary and Book Blogs

NBC11 First Wind Powered TV Station

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Giulia:

Top 10 Feminist Blogs

Horton: The New Mascot for Pro-Life

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Gina:

Top 10 Film Blogs

Top 10 Films I Would See If I Was At SXSW

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Kerry:

Our Pharmaceutically Fouled Water Supply

Top 7 New Sins Against God’s Green Earth

Beginning March 7th, NBC11 of the San Francisco Bay area became the first television station in the United States to be powered entirely by wind. Using these wind farms for 100 percent of their electricity is part of the studio’s “EcoLogic” campaign, designed to show employees, local businesses and viewers alike that they too can improve their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint on the environment.

“NBC11 kicked off the campaign internally in January with an appeal to employees to reduce electricity consumption by simply turning off unnecessary lighting and shutting down computers and equipment when not in use.

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