A List of Sustainability Lists in This Season of Lists

And yes it is a bit late in the New Year to be posting yet another take on the top 10.  But it was a busy Christmas season so here we go .....

I thought about putting together my own take on the Top 10 theme, you know, the 10 most important sustainability events for 2010, the 10 most important trends to watch for 2011 or maybe the 10 least sustainable politicians.  But the more I looked around at my favorite news and blog sites the harder it seemed to add anything that hadn't already been said.  Before I knew it I was putting together a list of all the top 10 (or five or 20, whatever) lists relating to sustainability, environment or clean tech investing.  What follows is a compilation of 23 lists that looked to be at least a bit relevant to this blog.  Enjoy!

To start, there are those basic lists that make sure we know what were the most important events from the year that has past.  In this category, the big stories of the year were undeniably BP's disasterous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Senate's failure to do anything useful about climate change.  The runner up story was probably the general failure to advance climate policy and regulation almost anywhere. 

1. Vermont Law School’s Top 10 Environmental Watch List for 2011
2. NY Times Green Blog: An Untameable Spill, An Unpassable Bill
3. Grist's Top 10 Green Stories of 2010
4. Mongabay's Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2010
5. EWG's Worst Environmental Stories of 2010
6. EWG's Top 10 Good Environmental News Stories of 2010
7. The American Lung Association's Eleven Biggest Clean Air Events of 2010
8. Sustainability's Top Trends from 2010
9. The 10 Most Hopeful Green Business Stories of 2010 by Joel Makower at Greenbiz
10. Greenbiz's 20 Most Popular Stories of 2010

Sticking with a look at the year that has past, but focusing on climate change issues were the 10 Carbon Reporting Trends That Defined 2010 from Greenbiz and Grist's Top Five Stories of the Year for Climate Hawks.  Did Grist capture the essence of the year with their lead in to the Climate Hawks list: Well That Sucked?

New Years wouldn't be complete without someone making some predictions (or just wishes) - and this list of lists won't disappoint. 

1. Top 10 Trends in Sustainable Business
2. Five Cleantech Wishes for 2011
3. The Greentech Wish List for 2011

(Greenopolis sat on the fence, listing the Top 10 Environmental Success Stories together with 10 associated Future Challenges.)

There were the clean tech/green tech investment lists.

1. 10 Clean and Green Energy Stocks for 2011 from the Alt Energ yStocks blog
2. Five Top Sustainable Investment Stories of 2010
3. The 2010 Cleantech 10 by Corporate Knights
4. The Cleantech Next 10 also by Corporate Knights

And then there were a few lists that defy my categories so far.  Popular Mechanics got the jump on this whole end of year lists thing by publishing their Debunking the Top 10 Energy Myths back in July of last year.   Triple Pundit put together And The Top Ten Most "Sustainable" CEO's Are... - and no surprise here Yvon Chouinard takes first prize. 

And last but certainly not least is what was perhaps the most interesting list, put together by Mother Jones staffers baring their souls and presenting their 10 Green New Year's Resolutions.  How can you not root for Emma L. when she tells us she's committing to:

Actually composting the veggies that melt into mush in the bottom of the veggie drawer instead of holding the bag by one corner and putting it in the trash.  There is something about the grossness factor that just makes it hard to scrape them out of the bag...I compost everything else I should!

Enjoy!