We were green when green wasn't cool.

It seems that, today, green is all the rage.  It's hot, hot, HOT!  Suddenly, in every magazine, newspaper, online forum, "green" is on everyone's lips (or fingertips).  It's an overnight sensation! 

However, like most overnight sensations, that's not the whole story.  Like the movie star who worked as a carpenter to support his family for twenty years while working as an actor is suddenly "discovered" and, likewise, called an overnight sensation, there were many years of hard work and lack of respect before "Green" became the star she is today. 

In Austin and Central Texas, we were green when green wasn't cool. 

The Dillo Dirt municipal composting program of the City of Austin has been in existence since 1989 - the oldest in the state and one of the oldest in the nation. 

The Austin Energy Green Building Program started in 1991 and is going great guns.

Dr.Mike McElveen and others pioneered rainwater harvesting on a large scale back in the early 1990's (and, of course, rainwater harvesting had been practiced in Texas for decades prior to that, on an individual basis, before city water and in areas where wells weren't practical).

I, personally, can remember strong interest in environmental issues in Austin going back to when I arrived to attend college here, in 1969.  Rachel Carson, Christopher Alexander, and other names were common on the lips of Austin residents back then.  Which, since folks who attend UT in Austin have a very hard time bringing themselves to leave (and had a harder time doing so even then, which is why we seem to have the greatest number of bartenders with graduate degrees anywhere), probably led to all the activity mentioned above, and more.

Now, green is mainstream in Central Texas.  Many municipalities and utility providers in Central Texas provide rebates for installing various energy efficient and environmentally sustainable improvements to your home, new or old, from low flush toilets to solar or wind energy to efficient heating and (especially) cooling equipment to rainwater harvesting systems.  

A new fad?  An overnight sensation?  Not in Central Texas, where we were green when green wasn't cool!  Welcome to the party, folks!