Annihilated by a devastating tornado in May 2007, more than ninety percent of the town of Greensburg, Kansas was destroyed, including the downtown area and city hall. Faced with tragedy, the town decided to take on a unique and unusual rebuilding effort—they decided to rebuild the community green. With aims of creating a sustainable town, they’re not only reinventing themselves, but also creating a model for green building and a practical paradigm of conservation.

A Denver, Colorado native, Wallach and his wife moved to Kansas in 2003. Before starting Greensburg Greentown, he worked for non-profits, founded the Colorado Association of Nonprofit Organizations and ran a food co-op. He recalls the storm and its destructive wrath, “It was psychologically impactful. That night, after the tornado, we went outside and saw a great deal of devastation. But we didn’t see the full impact until the electricity came back on the next day and we saw it on TV. The devastation itself - it was not like a tornado, it was more like a land hurricane. The tiny two square miles of town were leveled. It was remarkable, the level of destruction. You couldn’t help but feel tremendous compassion for these people. It’s remarkable as many people survived that did. Many who know disaster recovery think that if the tornado would have struck in the middle of the night, two to three hundred people would have died.”

Wallach pauses, before explaining the emotions and mind-set initially after the storm. “We had mixed emotions. Most people lost all their material possessions, including their businesses. It was devastating in that way,” he explains. “But you also felt this tremendous sense of good fortune that you lived and so many friends and family lived. About a dozen people died in the storm, so there was great sadness about that. But overall, the lack of loss was formidable.”

Faced with an unprecedented situation in their community, it’s awe-inducing to consider that the town was able to not only move forward but move forward with renewed purpose. Wallach attributes it to creativity and innovation fuelled by adversity, “When people experience that level of loss, if there is anything you can do to redeem that loss, to bring some value out of that loss, you do that. It’s how we are designed. We are very creative beings. When there’s that much loss, you get very creative. The community found a way to bring the meaning and value long term, after such a horrific event.” In fact, the ever-optimistic non-profit crusader views it as a serendipitous opportunity. ”This town, like most other rural towns in the country, are endangered species,” he rationalizes. “Finding a way to preserve this community and type of community was something these people were really excited about. Usually, the younger generations move away for college and don’t come back, but this new infusion of commerce and innovation could attract them to stay. One of the most exciting elements of potential meant that multiple generations could live in the town again.”

After the inconceivable damage that this tight-knit community endured, as the seeds of rebuilding green were planted, Wallach did grassroots outreach to get the community on board. “It involved going around and talking to people, and more importantly listening to them, as well asassuring them that this was not a political agenda. It was silly that the environmental movement had ever been politicized. What’s political about clean air and water?” he asks. “It was all about relationships. These were people that had just been traumatized and they certainly didn’t want to be exploited or taken advantage of.”

When the residents received the news of the possibility of rebuilding green, reactions were diverse. “The reaction varied. The most forward thinking people in town thought it was a no-brainer and they were very excited about it,” recalls Wallach. “Those that were more conservative and skeptical were a bit leery. And then there was everything in between. But overall, it was a healthy skepticism with great optimism.”

Greensburg Greentown engages, educates and encourages residents and businesses, as well as creating incentives for going green. To foster a support system, they’ve brought in a wealth of experts, builders, volunteers and technical support from around the country. With a seminar series spotlighting different aspects of sustainable living, educational resources, program outreach and energy consultants, the residents of Greenburg are learning the benefits of sustainability. One recent incentive had measurably dramatic effects.

“People love incentives. Caroma, donated dual flush toilets that are extremely water saving,” he recalls. “They donated 400 plus toilets, which will save over five million gallons of water a year. That also demonstrated for people locally and people outside the community the potential of energy conserving and water conserving, and what we are trying to achieve.” While the donations and assistance have helped the community a great deal, Wallach, believes that the organization bestows community residents with a far greater resource. “Information and inspiration! Providing information has been the best thing we have provided for people. We’re teaching them that, rather inexpensively, you can build an energy efficient home that will be far cheaper to run over the course of the thirty-year mortgage. These are very common-sense, intelligent people, but they just need the right information.”

While Greensburg Greentown undertakes a phenomenal number of roles, aims and responsibilities, Wallach sees it as an extraordinarily simple mission. “It’s about advocacy, public relations and bringing benefits to those we serve. It is about ensuring that the green initiative maintains its level of importance and that it’s considered in all the decisions the community makes,” he asserts. “We're presenting the green initiative which, as an element of the community, has been determined by the community to be a very important priority. We provide a framework and advocacy to be sure the community stays true to that. “

Once the town and the organization decided to move forward with the sustainable community, volunteers, experts and specialists flocked to Greensburg from all over the country. “The volunteers, experts and specialists have been extraordinarily helpful,” Wallach proclaims with appreciation. “I say that Greensburg is being rebuilt on a foundation of generosity. “

For Wallach, this initiative has allowed non-profits to do what they do best. “This is the role of non-profits in the country. This, is where non-profits really excel: helping funnel resources to a need,” he explains. “The non profits and the community have been able to channel this tremendous outpouring of energy and support into something tangible. And my favorite part of the whole initiative has been helping facilitate that, in terms of bringing resources to the community and engaging the individuals. In order for the community and this concept to have long-tem viability, we must have interaction and ownership from people around the world. We need to generate tourism and we need support and involvement of those interested in the future of sustainability. The community itself has to remain on the cutting edge, and in order to do that, we need the involvement of people and companies on the cutting edge.” His hopes of tourism and global involvement are seeded in logic, “It’s a place of innovation, ingenuity and discovery - and who doesn’t want to be around that? That’s why we think tourists will come, businesses will come, and people will want to live here.”

One of the aims of Greensburg Greentown is to power the town with 100% renewable energy. Additionally, Greensburg is hoping to attract a new green trade. The city wants to open a biodiesel facility as one of its first green newcomers “As far as biodiesel, there’s a private company doing feasibility studies and trying to get everything in order to get a project of that magnitude off the ground. That’s in process and they’re working hard to make that happen,” he shares, before turning his attention to attracting green businesses.

“Green businesses, which are dedicated to providing solutions to problems and challenges, find a very good fit in Greensburg. This is a community that comes up with innovative solutions,” Wallach affirms. “We’re going to have 100 percent renewable energy powering the town. We’re going to have the largest concentration of energy efficient, cutting edge, and sustainable buildings in the world. Component after component, it makes the community a model of sustainability and green living, and it makes sense for green businesses to locate here because green businesses, unlike traditional businesses, have these core values, other than profit. And they find a place here unlike any other that appeals to those values.”

Faced with the overwhelming task of rebuilding an entire town in a sustainable fashion, what has been the biggest challenge? “Money!” Wallach exclaims with a laugh. “Its really quite remarkable when you think about rebuilding this whole town. In addition to what’s come in from government sources, we’ll probably need between fifty and a hundred million dollars. It sounds like a lot of money, but there are museums in cities that are built for more than that. It’s really quite a bargain to rebuild this place where people will live and thrive, and also serve as this laboratory and school that the world can benefit from. “

With the unprecedented progress and initiative in Greensburg, its no wonder the community is being hailed as a global model for sustainability. “I think the attention is fantastic. It’s an incredible opportunity to provide leadership. Its also an incredible responsibility,” Wallach declares humbly. “It’s a position of honor and we want to treat it as such. The greatest asset we have is integrity, credibility and we must treat that as the precious resources and assets that they are.”

After facing turmoil and turning a crisis into a success story, he reflects on the key drivers of Greenburg’s ability to champion over adversity, and even use it as a tool. “Adversity is a great natural resource. When we engage it as such, we can create beautiful things out of it,” affirms Wallach. “I think that’s the reason Greensburg has struck such a cord with people. People have seen a community come together and transform great adversity into something beautiful with enormous potential. How we respond to adversity will determine what becomes of it. If we respond not out of fear, but with vision, we’ll create something that’s much better than what we had.”

Not only has Wallach given, so have the residents and volunteers, businesses and non-profits from around the globe. With their contributions, Greensburg’s story has played out quite differently than it could have. The local community banded together, refusing to be a footnote in local history. Not content to return to their pre-storm ways, the community and residents have showcased an incredible drive and dedication to forging ahead by improving the very foundation of their town. Greensburg, with its tremendous undertaking and forward-thinking conduct, has afforded us all a monumental framework for integrating sustainability into our communities and our lives. Greensburg, now bearing a new significance in its name, is the underdog we all want to root for.

For more about Greensburg Greentown, visit http://www.greensburggreentown.org/ or to visit the official town website, see http://www.greensburgks.org

Photos courtesy of: D. Wallach