12 Ways To Live Sustainably In A City

Check out these 12 simple tips for reducing your carbon footprint when living in a city

Cities are great places to live and it is where most of the innovation and cultural activity takes place in the modern world. It is also where a lot of the global population lives – In 2020 56.2% of the world population lived in urban areas and this is predicted to increase to 68% by 2050.

Therefore, it’s where most of the greenhouse emissions are being produced due to the concentration of large numbers of people.

So if you care about the environment and want to minimize your carbon footprint you may be thinking about finding ways to live more sustainably in a city.

Well, you have come to the right place. Read on for 12 ways to live sustainably in a city.

Contents:

Walk more
Cycle
Take the train or tram
Eat local
Eat less meat
Work from home
Grow your own food
Buy second hand
Recycle
Limit plastic use
Exercise in the park
Vote for greener policies

1. Walk more

The first step in making a city more sustainable is to simply walk more. Whether this is walking to work (if you are lucky to work close to home), to meet friends or to the supermarket. It’s also a good way to keep the pounds off and maintain your health.

2. Cycle

Just as good as walking is cycling. If walking to work takes up more time than you would like then cycling is also a good way to get around the city.

Local and state authorities are putting more dedicated cycle lanes into cities to make it safer to commute and travel around.

And if you are averse to a bit of pedal power, there are always e-bikes and scooters which can help with those big hills (I live in a particularly hilly city).

3. Take the train or tram

If you live in a big city and all of the previous ways of getting around, such as walking and cycling is not feasible for getting to work or visiting family and friends then choose a mode of transport that is the most eco-friendly.

According to the European Environment Agency rail is the most energy-efficient mode of transport and Forbes also states that rail travel is actually more eco-friendly than travelling in a Toyota Prius.

Trains are also a good way to combine travel by taking your bike and cycling for the remainder of the journey.

4. Eat local

To live sustainably in a city often involves travelling less for the things you do socially and culturally. This means things like staying local when you eat out to minimise your carbon footprint and helping to reduce congestion.

5. Eat less meat

Did you know the production of red meat is really bad for the environment? According to PETA raising animals for food consumes more than half of the water sources in the US – It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat.

It’s fair to say then that cutting back on your meat consumption helps not only with the environment overall but also reduces the amount of transportation (and thus emissions) needed to get it into the city to places like restaurants and supermarkets.

6. Work from home

Not always a viable option for all people, especially if you work in a job that requires face to face interaction but if you live in a city chances are you will work in an office, which often means work can be done at home.

So if you are not already doing so ask your boss if this is an option, at least part of the week. And if you are in between jobs, look out for the growing number of job vacancies that offer remote working as part of a way to entice new employees.

7. Grow your own food

Space is often limited in a city especially if you live in a high rise apartment block but there are ways you can grow your own food.

There are a growing number of community gardens now in cities where residents band together and take over unused pieces of land to grow fruit and vegetables. It’s also a good way to get organic produce much cheaper than in the stores.

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8. Buy second hand

Not every item we use needs to be brand new and there are plenty of places to buy household goods and clothing second hand.

If there is not a vintage or second-hand shop nearby there are online platforms like Facebook Marketplace, eBay and Craigslist where you can find pretty much any used item you can think of.

The upside to this is not only will you be living more sustainably in a city but you’ll also be saving money.

9. Recycle

Think about the products you buy and how easy they are to recycle.

Look out for food packaging that is made from cardboard and paper, rather than plastic; have a food waste bin for your leftovers; recycle old electronics such as smartphones and laptops; buy rechargeable batteries and recycle the ones that no longer work, and recycle old cooking oil.

These are just a few household items that you can recycle, but you can pretty much recycle most things with a bit of careful planning.

10. Limit plastic use

We all know about the harms plastic has on the environment but sometimes it is hard to avoid using it completely – instead, limit how much you use.

Some examples include refilling the plastic bottles you already have and going to zero-waste shops and filling up old plastic containers or bags with food such as rice and pasta.

11. Exercise in the park

It’s good to keep healthy and gyms are a good place to do this. However, gyms need the energy to power the lights and some of the equipment such as running machines.

So If you are lucky to live in a city that is designed to incorporate a large amount of green space such as public parks and the weather permits then doing your daily exercise in them is a good idea.

12. Vote for greener policies

We have more influence on the environment than we think not only by the products we choose to buy and consume but also by the way we vote.

Part of living in a sustainable city is voting for the party that has the most progressive policies in regards to sustainability and the environment.

So for example a party that is willing to invest in the city’s infrastructure in things like green spaces and sustainable travel is probably someone you may want to consider voting for if you care about the environment and want to live in a sustainable city.