Greensburg taking advantage of new 'green' opportunity

One Kansas town has made the most of the old adage, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

In this case, it's green lemonade, and in plenty of time for St. Patrick's Day.

Even the name of the town "Greensburg," is right for riding the "green" wave of environmentalism sweeping the country.

If ever a town had a right to take advantage of circumstances, it's Greensburg, virtually wiped off the map by a tornado May 4.

Now the city is hoping to become an ecotourism destination with environmentally friendly buildings and energy projects.

A group in charge of the effort, Greensburg GreenTown, is building a dozen "green" demonstration homes built with environmentally friendly and energy efficient methods such as insulated concrete construction, solar energy and wind power.

Costing $200,000 to $300,000 each to build, the homes will be rented out to visitors or residents on a first-come, first-serve basis.

"Nothing like this exists in the world that we are aware of," said Daniel Wallach, GreenTown executive director. "This has piqued a lot of interest all over the world, and that's what we were hoping for."

We can see that happening. Solar and wind power, and other technologies that might otherwise not be economically feasible for Greensburg at this stage could be tried out with the help of agencies, companies and other groups hoping to promote their "green" ideas.

In a few years, Greensburg might indeed reach its ecotourism dream.

Like the World War II destruction that wiped out industries in Germany and Japan, the May 4 tornado gave Greensburg a blank slate on which to build a new and better future.