In May 2007, the city of Greensburg, Kansas, was hit by an EF5 tornado that wiped out 95 percent of the city and killed eleven people. Now, the city is working on becoming better, stronger and greener.
Greensburg is now being rebuilt as a "green" town, with all city buildings being LEED certified platinum (the first city in the country to do so) and residents being educated on how to live greener and more sustainably. These efforts have been made possible with the help of Greensburg Greentown, a non-profit organization, and by charter supporters like Ben & Jerry's, Brighter Planet, Clif Bar, and Stonyfield Farm, who have purchased ten wind turbines for the city.
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.