Last weekend—the second anniversary of the tornado that destroyed the small town of Greensburg, Kansas—residents invited the public to see its progress toward becoming one of the first green towns in the United States. Greensburg homeowners and business owners have rebuilt much of the town with eco-friendly construction materials. 

In the devastating tornado’s aftermath, Greensburg city officials committed to using 100 percent renewable energy from a wind farm a few miles south and mandated that every city building be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Platinum standards. 

The Silo eco-home will be a model for smallscale sustainable food production. The roof will be transformed into usable space through the creation of an herb and vegetable garden. Photo Courtesy Greensburg GreenTown. 

GreenTown is a community-owned organization that partnered with city officials to rebuild the town in a sustainable manner. With assistance from the USGBC and Ogden Publications, parent company of Natural Home, Mother Earth News, The Herb Companion and Utne Reader magazines, GreenTown has planned several buildings slated to qualify for LEED Platinum status, including the John Deere dealership, which opened for business in January; Sun Chips Business Incubator building, completed this May; and the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, which will be complete in fall 2010. In addition to these buildings, the 5.4.7 Arts, a fine arts community center, achieved LEED Platinum level in 2008. 

In addition, GreenTown’s Chain of Eco-Homes project offers 12 model homes that act as “living laboratories.” Constructed of eco-friendly building materials, each home is scientifically monitored to determine how the materials perform. The homes are open to the public as lodging and as an information center. GreenTown broke ground last December and completed two homes on May 4, 2009. It hopes to complete two more homes by the end of 2009 and the remaining eight by the end of 2011.

As economic turmoil peaks and a staggering number of Americans file for unemployment, Ogden Publications, publisher of Natural Home magazine, is connecting job seekers and green employers through its website Great Green Careers. The website's official launch is on Earth Day, April 22. 

Great Green Careers filters through top green job sites and independent posts to offer a promising selection and range of jobs. The website offers a comprehensive search of the green job market, from energy (biomass, tidal, geothermal, wind and solar) and skilled trades (plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling and building automation) to transportation and the environment (ecology, abatement, health and safety and parks). 

Employers can quickly post jobs and search the extensive resume database. If companies don’t have time to search for qualifying resumes, they can set up a resume agent that will pull resumes that match specific criteria. 

Job seekers have a growing job database at their fingertips. Searching for a career or location is easy with the advanced-search, browse-by-location or browse-by-keyword options. Great Green Careers is like an extra pair of eyes searching for the right job. You can post your resume and allow job seekers to find you. Applying for a job is free, and job hunters can apply to as many jobs as they desire. 

If you’re looking for a green job or want to take a new career path, try these tips: 

• Familiarize yourself with the environmental movement. Learn the effects it has on the economy and businesses.

• Start networking. Searching for jobs is only one aspect to landing a job; the second part is letting people know you’re looking for a job in a certain field. Use your relationships and networks as additional eyes in your job hunt.

• Volunteer; you never know who you might meet and what valuable skills you’ll learn.