Dive Brief:

• States were measured by WalletHub through two categories: environmental quality and eco-friendly behaviors. The environmental quality category considered the present day state of the environment per region, and the eco-friendly behavior category measured the environmental impact wrought by populations on the U.S. state.
• Hawaii ranked tenth overall, 18th in environmental quality, and fifth in eco-friendly behaviors. The state has the highest total municipal solid waste (MSW) per capita in the nation.
• The study ranked Vermont as the cleanest state in the U.S. It is ranked first in environmental quality, and second in eco-friendly behaviors. The facts behind those rankings are reflected by the fact that Vermont is second to lowest in MSW per capita in the U.S.

Dive Insight:

Ranking states by the efficiency of their systems and by livability indexes such as pollution is important, but the lessons that can be learned from such comparisons can be more valuable. Certainly it would make sense that Hawaii would have more MSW than other states, given that so many of its goods are shipped into the island state, and given that so many tourists go there each year and contribute trash to the waste stream.

Conversely, Vermont’s low population could be a factor in its positive ranking. What might be more helpful might be a category by category look at how these states are handling waste issues.