The power of you: Siemens recognizes green efforts of three U.S. communities

I've been remiss in following up some admirable community sustainability awards that are being sponsored by Siemens in conjunction with the Business Civic Leadership Center and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. While these projects aren't strictly green technology initiatives, they ARE being pushed forward by advances in alternative energy and more energy-efficient designs for things like lightbulbs. And they ARE getting some backing by a technology company, Siemens.

Three different communities were recognized as part of the inaugural awards. They were the City of Albuquerque in the Large Community, for work in conservation and clean energy production; the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, N.C., in the Midsize Community , which has created an entire blueprint for community sustainability; and the City of Kingsport, Tenn., in the Small Community category.

The focus for judging the awards included the following criteria: efforts to create a sustainable economy in the local community, one that could apply to everyday life. The links may give you an idea of what's going on at the grassroots level in communities like your own.