The Most Eco-Friendly States: Where Massachusetts Ranks
WalletHub, a personal finance website, released its 2023 “Greenest States” list. They compiled a list ranking all 50 states from the greenest to the least green. The list compared the…
WalletHub, a personal finance website, released its 2023 "Greenest States" list. They compiled a list ranking all 50 states from the greenest to the least green. The list compared the states across three categories: environmental quality, eco-friendly behaviors, and climate change contributions.
"Eco-friendliness and personal finance are related," stated the Managing Editor of WalletHub in the report, explaining that every person, through spending choices has an impact on the environment. "We spend money through our own consumption and taxes in support of environmental security."
The metrics and methodology
Those three categories were evaluated using 25 metrics. For example, the environmental quality dimension includes four of those metrics, such as soil quality. Each of the metrics was weighed on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 being the highest level of eco-friendliness, according to WalletHub.
Massachusetts ranks in top 10
Massachusetts was ranked seventh in the top 10 rankings. It is worth noting that the state has implemented the Leading by Example Program, which collaborates with state agencies and public educational institutions to promote clean energy and sustainable practices, thereby reducing the environmental impact of state government operations.
The state ranked first for having the highest water quality and third for having the most LEED-Certified Buildings per Capita.
Which state ranked the highest?
In general, most of the top 10 states were located near the coast, with a few exceptions. New York was the highest-ranked Atlantic state, coming in at number 2. Following closely behind were Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine ranked at numbers 5, 6, 7, and 10.
On the opposite side of the country were the Pacific states of California, which ranked at number 3, and Hawaii, which came in at number 4.
Vermont, the state that topped the list, is located neither on a lake nor an ocean. However, with an impressive overall score of 78.44, it has been deemed the greenest state owing to its high rankings in environmental quality and eco-friendly behaviors. It is known as the Green Mountain State.
Take a look at how all 50 states ranked here.
5 Plants That Will Make Your Garden Smell
Plants don't always give off beautiful floral aromas, scents, and smells. There are plants that give off unpleasant smells that could stink up your garden. Most plants give off produce scents to lure in pollinators and repel predators.
Bees and butterflies are drawn to your garden by sweet scents from fragrant flowers. Plants with foul odors smell this way to attract flies and beetles which normally lay their eggs in feces and rotting materials.
With the gardening season around the corner, you may want to consider avoiding putting these plants in your garden.
Here are five plants that can smell up your garden.
Crown Imperial Plants
Getty ImagesThe flowers have a potent, musky scent almost like a skunk, which deters rodents and voles as well as squirrels and deer from the garden. Crown imperial plants are native to Asia and the Middle East. They come in These flowers come in shades of red, orange, and yellow.
Stinking Corpse Lily
Getty ImagesThe flower has a large central opening surrounded by petal-like structures and can grow huge, weighing up to 24 pounds. Also known as the rafflesia arnoldii, which smells and even looks like a rotting carcass.
Carrion Flower
Getty ImagesThese flowers are often pollinated by flies and other insects that are attracted to the smell of decay. The most common odors describe it as smelling like a rotting animal, a dead mouse, foul, and sulfur-like during flowering.
Skunk Cabbage
Getty ImagesSkunk Cabbages get their name from the fact they produce a smell of rotting meat or skunk when their leaves are bruised or crushed. While the smell may be unpleasant, the odor can help keep pests away and attract beneficial pollinators including bees and butterflies.
Corpse Flower
Getty ImagesThis flower is far from sweet. The United States Botanic Garden says its the worst-smelling flower in the world. Also known as the titan arum, some people compare its smell to a stinking corpse or rotting flesh.
