Biodynamic farming is an organic-farming method originated by the early 20th Century Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (founder of Waldorf schools) in an attempt to balance the nature of growing without the use of chemical or artificial means. The goal of biodynamic wine-making is to view the vineyard as a complete living system. These methods help preserve the purity and character of the fruit, leading to fantastic wines that reflect an authentic sense of place. It is a viticultural method slowly gaining strength worldwide in response to the unsustainable practice of "manufacturing wine" that has exploded over the past 60 years.

When the City of Rock Island created its "Green Team" last year, one thing it did was initiate an in-house recycling program.

Yes, the City of Rock Island - which likes to consider itself progressive - had no recycling program within city buildings.

Some recycling was done, said Tim Ridder, assistant to the public works director, the city's environmental-services coordinator, and the staff person who leads Green Team efforts. "It just wasn't uniform throughout the city," he said, and it wasn't being collected as a function of city government.

This isn't offered as proof that Rock Island is out-of-step. Rather, it shows how far the Quad Cities have come in the past year. Environmental initiatives range from obvious little things to multi-million-dollar projects, and it's evident that municipal government has gone green.

Buildings are definitely energy hogs. The SUV is the environmental bad-boy symbol, but buildings consume more energy than cars and trucks. It's estimated that commercial and residential buildings in the U.S. consume 65 percent of all electricity, as well as 12 percent of drinkable water and 40 percent of all raw materials, according to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an international organization that is expected in early 2008 to release a report evaluating green building in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

For the new Davenport police headquarters, building green is a simple matter of economics. "Saving money was the main motivation," said Charles Heston, a project manager in the city's Community & Economic Development Department.

Among its features, the under-construction building will be heated with geothermal energy; some lighting will be automatically adjusted based on daylight; other lighting will be controlled by occupancy censors; and a "green roof" with soil and plants will prevent rainwater from running off into storm sewers and provide additional insulation.