Green Daily

It's like you know, just by looking, that the building to the right is a government building. If I'd picked something more modern but nondescript with only a few windows, I bet you would have thought, "county government building." Some of you might have started to read, other of you might have looked for the latest Paris Hilton post. I was hoping to draw you into my post with the slightly more attractive Fayette County Courthouse.

I ran across the National Association of Counties, as I looked for sites that might help you and I determine which governments were implementing environmentally friendly practices. It has a Green Government Database that allows you to search for various policies and proposals on issues like water quality, land practices, indoor air quality and fleet vehicles.

For example, if I search "land use" policies and programs for communities 50,000 to 500,000 the database returnsa handful of pdfs from across the country. Volusia County, Florida provided a document on its fishing line recycling program. It also provides bilge socks to boaters, to prevent the distribution of gas and oil from a bilge into waterways. And there's a manatee monitoring program. Volunteers are asked "to document manatee sightings, photograph manatees, and sketch manatee scarring patterns. Volunteers provide information, including the condition, behavior, and location of the manatee(s) that is sighted."

You can search by location, by area of interest or by community size. And while this site may prove useful to citizens interested in knowing what your local county has planned for transportation, the site isn't really for citizens. It's actually geared toward county officials. The site's goals include distributing ideas and information on green practices, dispelling myths on the cost of going green, and encouraging green practices.