HONOLULU AGAIN RANKED AMONG GREENEST U.S. CITIES, TOPS IN AIR QUALITY

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he is very pleased that Honolulu has once again been named one of the greenest U.S. cities by SustainLane.com, the Web’s largest people-powered guide to sustainable living.

“It’s great news that our home is being recognized again by people who are very serious about sustainability and environmental protection,” Mayor Hannemann said. “We’re also very serious about these important issues, and we’re constantly striving to make our home an even better place.”

SustainLane.com ranked Honolulu 17^th overall out of 50 U.S. cities, and ranked it the best for air quality. The group had ranked Honolulu among the top 20 cities overall last year.

“Just in case you needed one more reason to visit Honolulu, Hawaii—other than the breezy, cloudless 80-degree weather, the surf, and gorgeous views of the dormant volcano Diamond Head—we’ve got one: the air. You can breathe deeply in Honolulu, which again tops SustainLane’s rankings for air quality,” the group reported today.

The group ranked Honolulu’s water supply the 10^th in the nation, noted that Honolulu adopted its first sustainability plan in 2007, diverts more than half of its solid waste from landfills, and is planning a major mass transit project.

The rankings “track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents' quality of life. In this story, some cities are becoming more self-reliant and better prepared for an uncertain future, while others have been slow to act on opportunities to green their municipalities,” according to the group.

For more information, visit http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/  and http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/cities/honolulu

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Media contact: Bill Brennan, 527-6928