Causecast

By Brian Merchant, TreeHugger

But which cities are the greenest of the green? Which cities are already doing great green things, regardless of Earth Day? Where will the best events in the country be going down? Which will have the best opportunities for you to lend a hand? In other words, where should you want to be on Earth Day?

Here are 10 of the greenest cities you could hope to be in on Earth Day.

10. Boston
Boston doesn’t get a whole lot of green love from the environmental movement, but it should—it’s quietly made its way to the top of greenest city lists with good public transit, an eye on energy efficiency, mandated green building standards, and even a bike share on the way. Sure, it’ll be one of the colder locales to ring in Earth Day, but don’t let that get you down—there’s so much environmentally friendly stuff to do in Boston you’ll barely notice. Boston.com has this slideshow featuring a bunch of great Earth Day events going on in the city.

9. Asheville
Home to some of the greenest communities in the country, Asheville is a cool green town nestled in mountainous, western North Carolina. It’s not nearly the size of most of the other cities on this list, but it edges its way in out of sheer greenness—in addition to those celebrated eco communities, Asheville was named “most vegetarian friendly” small city by PETA, and is surrounded by beautiful nature on all sides. So if you’re there on Earth Day, soak in the good green vibes at the Asheville Earth Day all-day concert or the Earth Day Celebration Concert later on—there will be live music, green eats, and Find out how else to be a part of Asheville’s Earth Day celebration from Planet Green—there’s plenty to do.
8. Chicago
The Windy City has leaned pretty green in recent years—with good public transit, a tax on bottled water, an ambitious bike plan, and an even more ambitious plan to curb carbon emissions by 75%, the city is making good green progress. So it’s fitting that there are tons of Earth Day events in Chicago worth looking into—from green tea parties to Nature Conservancy events, you can celebrate the environment in great, varied ways. A bunch of parks are hosting events too, so you can lend a green helping hand.

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Photo: St. Simon/Flickr