Written By Nate. On Dec 30. In Daily Life, Green Living, Indiana, Recycling, Sustainability, Sustainable living

Living just 3 hours away from Indianapolis has allowed me the opportunity to make some visits for pleasure with my family and for work.  Large cities like Indy can be an environmental nightmare but they can also be great catalysts for bringing green life to the forefront of thousands of people who live within its confines.

During my last two trips to Indy I’ve seen two very cool public displays of green living, nudging city dwellers to live life at least a tad more sustainably.  At the state capitol, people are encouraged to ride bicycles to conduct business there.  Gone are the days of using a chain to tie your bike to a tree trunk or some other hopefully immovable object.  Instead, the state has installed bike lockers, so riders can store their wheels in an enclosed and locked space.  It’s like having your own secured parking garage for just your bicycle.  I think this is a fantastic idea and leaves you with little worry about the condition of your bike when you return to bail it out.

Also seen on sidewalks in downtown Indy are dozens of recycling bins.  The water bottle that someone chugged while dashing from one meeting to the next can now be tossed into a recycling bin instead of heading off to the landfill.  City-maintained recycling bins are a simple concept and why more municipalities don’t offer them up is beside me.

Tim Mahoney of the Hoosier Environmental Council was recently asked to rank the city’s efforts to become more sustainable.  It’s pretty interesting and shows while Indianapolis is making great strides to try and take more responsibility for its environmental impact, they still have a long way to go.