Tampa, most big Florida cities not very green

The Sunshine State may be sunny, but it isn’t all that green, says a study of the 100 greenest cities in the U.S.

According to a WalletHub study, Tampa ranked nearly dead last at No. 94 in the overall scale, which looked at components like greenhouse-gas emissions, amount of green space, amount of bike lanes and solar systems installed per capita.

California cities and Honolulu dominated the ranks.

Miami was the highest Florida city on the list at No. 42. Hialeah was second-to-last in the least amount of green space it had.

University of South Florida professor and director of the School of Architecture and Community Design Robert M. MacLeod, who was interviewed for the study, offered many ways for people to easily “go green.”

“Recycle! Compost! Don’t use plastic garbage bags at the grocery store,” he said.

To MacLeod, the more green a city is, the more trees and parks it will have. Recycling, alternative energy and different methods of transportation contribute to a city being green.

This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Tampa, most big Florida cities not very green."