The water
Municipal systems — mostly treated and safe, but quality and taste vary by city and state. Tap water: Varies.
United States
Yellowstone, the world's first national park (1872) and home to about half the planet's active geysers
RegionNorth AmericaCurrencyUSDPowerType A/B, 120VTap waterVaries
Good
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
The US is one of the world's largest agricultural producers and a net food exporter, so it is comfortably self sufficient in staple grains, meat and dairy. The system is highly industrial and the national diet leans heavily on…Read more
The US is one of the world's largest agricultural producers and a net food exporter, so it is comfortably self sufficient in staple grains, meat and dairy. The system is highly industrial and the national diet leans heavily on ultra processed food, and the country still imports large volumes of fresh produce, seafood and coffee.
Local staples
Maize, wheat, soy, potatoes, apples and wide regional produce
Markets
Weekly farmers' markets nationwide, mostly at weekends
In season
Late summer to autumn, varying widely by region
Wildlife
The US has exceptional biodiversity and endemism, from the Hawaiian islands and the California Floristic Province to the freshwater fish and mussels of the south east. Iconic rewilding successes include grey wolves in…Read more
The US has exceptional biodiversity and endemism, from the Hawaiian islands and the California Floristic Province to the freshwater fish and mussels of the south east. Iconic rewilding successes include grey wolves in Yellowstone, bison recovery and the California condor. It also carries the highest national count of IUCN threatened species in this batch, 1,931 (2023), reflecting both richness and pressure.
Found nowhere else
High endemism in Hawaii and California; the Joshua tree, giant sequoia and California condor
Natural phenomena
Regional extremes: hurricanes on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts (Jun–Nov), tornado season in the plains (spring), and wildfire season out west.
When to go
Depends on region; late spring and autumn are broadly good
Getting around
Domestic flights and car hire are essential; intercity rail is limited and transit quality varies by city
Good to know
Card everywhere, cash less so. Road-trip culture: rent, drive, and tip well.
Safety
Solo female travel: Easy. LGBTQ+: High (varies by state).
Only hereYellowstone, the world's first national park (1872) and home to about half the planet's active geysers
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
62/100
Good
The Eco Index: United States
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here Yellowstone, the world's first national park (1872) and home to about half the planet's active geysers
- Forest cover
- 33.9%
- Land protected
- 12.9%
- Sea protected
- 19.0%
- Organic farmland
- 0.6%
- Threatened species
- 1931
- Found nowhere else
- High endemism in Hawaii and California; the Joshua tree, giant sequoia and California condor
- Renewable power
- 20.3%
- CO2 per person
- 14.2 t (2024) t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 7.0
- Cleanest air
- The rural Mountain West and northern New England
- Water from
- Municipal systems — mostly treated and safe, but quality and taste vary by city and state.
- Tap water
- Varies
- Safe drinking water
- 97.6%
- Cleanest water
- The upper Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain headwaters
- Springs
- Yellowstone's geothermal basins and Hot Springs, Arkansas
- In season
- Late summer to autumn, varying widely by region
- Plastic ban
- No federal ban; bag bans in some states such as California and New York
- Watch out for
- Fracking and oil and gas zones, industrial feedlots, and wildfire smoke seasons
- Solo female travel
- Easy
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- High (varies by state)
- Best months
- May to June and September to October
- Getting around
- Domestic flights and car hire are essential; intercity rail is limited and transit quality varies by city
- Power
- Type A/B, 120V
- Currency
- USD
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 4/5 | The United States holds vast fresh water, from the Great Lakes, about a fifth of the world's surface fresh water, to major rivers and the Ogallala aquifer, and 97.6% of people have safely m… Full assessmentnaged drinking water (World Bank and JMP, 2024). Tap water is broadly safe. The serious caveats are regional: the south west faces a chronic Colorado River shortage, the Ogallala is being drawn down, and lead episodes such as Flint expose infrastructure gaps. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 4/5 | The US is one of the world's largest agricultural producers and a net food exporter, so it is comfortably self sufficient in staple grains, meat and dairy. Full assessmentThe system is highly industrial and the national diet leans heavily on ultra processed food, and the country still imports large volumes of fresh produce, seafood and coffee. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 3/5 | Plant based products are widely available and growing fast in US supermarkets and cities, with strong vegan brands and menus. Full assessmentThe mainstream diet, however, is dominated by animal products and ultra processed food, so easy whole food plant eating is more a coastal and urban phenomenon than a national norm. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 2/5 | Organic farmland is only about 0.6% of US agricultural land (FiBL, 2020), a small share despite one of the world's largest organic retail markets. Full assessmentCertified organic acreage is concentrated in a handful of states. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 4/5 | About 13% of US land and 19% of its waters are protected (World Bank, 2025), and marine protection includes some of the largest reserves on Earth, such as Papahanaumokuakea. Full assessmentFederal management through the National Park Service and the wilderness system is well funded and enforced, which lifts this above the land area figure alone. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 3/5 | The US has exceptional biodiversity and endemism, from the Hawaiian islands and the California Floristic Province to the freshwater fish and mussels of the south east. Full assessmentIconic rewilding successes include grey wolves in Yellowstone, bison recovery and the California condor. It also carries the highest national count of IUCN threatened species in this batch, 1,931 (2023), reflecting both richness and pressure. |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 3/5 | The US is a major cotton and wool producer and keeps living craft traditions, including Navajo weaving, Appalachian white oak basketry and a deep denim heritage. Full assessmentNatural fibres remain part of both industry and craft. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 3/5 | Baseline air is clean, with a PM2.5 annual mean around 7 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), but there is no federal plastic ban, only a patchwork of state bag bans in places suc… Full assessmentas California and New York. Worsening wildfire seasons now drive severe, if episodic, smoke pollution across large regions. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 3/5 | The US recycles about 32% of municipal solid waste (US EPA), a middling rate that has stagnated. Full assessmentSystems vary enormously by city and state, and the past export of waste abroad long inflated apparent performance. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 2/5 | The United States remains one of the world's highest per-person emitters at about 14.2 tonnes of CO2 per person (2024), with a power mix still dominated by natural gas and, to a lesser exte… Full assessmentt, coal. Renewables such as wind, solar and hydro supplied roughly a fifth of utility-scale electricity in 2023, closer to a quarter once distributed rooftop solar is counted, and are growing quickly. Federal climate policy has swung sharply, with the country again withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and rolling back federal climate measures in 2025, though many states retain their own targets. High emissions, fossil dependence and weakened national policy place it in the low band. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 3/5 | There are 574 federally recognised Native American tribes and some genuinely tribally run tourism, such as on the Navajo Nation and in the New Mexico pueblos. Full assessmentThe wider tourism economy is overwhelmingly commercial, and it rests on a history of displacement, so little of the sector is community rooted in the way this index rewards. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 3/5 | The United States is the birthplace of globally influential living music, including jazz, blues, gospel, country, bluegrass, rock and roll and hip hop. Full assessmentNative American song and dance endure across 574 federally recognised tribal nations through powwows and ceremonies, though many were historically disrupted. African American traditions such as spirituals, ring shout, the New Orleans second line and Mardi Gras Indians remain vital, alongside Cajun and Zydeco in Louisiana, Appalachian old-time music and Hawaiian hula and chant. Much of this heritage is strong but partly commercialised or revived rather than continuous. |
Before you go
Card everywhere, cash less so. Road-trip culture: rent, drive, and tip well.
Where these figures come from
- World Bank, Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 source
- World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas (% of land area) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 source
- World Bank, Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 source
- World Bank, Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 source
- World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, People using safely managed drinking water services (%) SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, 2024 source
- World Bank, PM2.5 mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre) EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2023 source
- FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture (via List of countries by organic farmland), 2020 source
- UN Statistics Division, Statistical Yearbook 2024 (68th issue), Threatened species table (source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, accessed June 2025), 2023 figures source
- US EPA, Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling (municipal recycling about 32%) source
- US National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park source
- Our World in Data, CO2 emissions per capita (Global Carbon Project), 2024 source
- US Energy Information Administration, electricity generation by source, 2023 source
- Climate Action Tracker, USA source
- US Bureau of Indian Affairs, federally recognised tribes source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
The United States is the birthplace of globally influential living music, including jazz, blues, gospel, country, bluegrass, rock and roll and hip hop. Native American song and dance endure across 574 federally recognised tribal nations through powwows and ceremonies, though many were historically disrupted. African American traditions such as spirituals, ring shout, the New Orleans second line and Mardi Gras Indians remain vital, alongside Cajun and Zydeco in Louisiana, Appalachian old-time music and Hawaiian hula and chant. Much of this heritage is strong but partly commercialised or revived rather than continuous.
- Jazz, blues, gospel, country, bluegrass, rock and roll and hip hop
- Native American powwow song and dance across 574 tribal nations
- African American spirituals, ring shout, the New Orleans second line and Mardi Gras Indians
- Cajun and Zydeco of Louisiana
- Appalachian old-time music
- Hawaiian hula and chant.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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