When it comes to recycling, composting, lowering thermostats and installing high efficiency bathroom and light fixtures, the Green Gables province turns out to be the greenest of them all, according to a recently released 2006 Statistics Canada survey.

Two-thirds of P.E.I. households fell into the very environmentally active category, that's nearly twice the number of households in the worst-performing provinces of Quebec and Manitoba.

On the whole, almost half of Canadian homes were very active in 2006, with about 45 per cent of them engaging in four or more green initiatives.

The most mind-boggling statistic: 97% of Island households compost.

So why do they do it? Islanders are also putting up windfarms on West Prince, and raised a ruckus when the ban on plastic bottles was recently lifted (yes, Islanders drank Coca-Cola in its classic iconic glass bottle).

I could fathom a guess and cite their high population density or agricultural emphasis, but maybe the explanation is simpler than that. Prince Edward Island is a gorgeous place and perhaps Islanders are determined to keep it that way.