We all know that we should be doing our bit for Mother Nature because, let’s face it, we’ve given her a bit of a battering over the last few centuries. It’s never been more important to keep an eye on your carbon footprint, and little changes can add up to make a big difference. However, no matter how green you pride yourself on being; when you’re off on your travels, it’s easy enough to let your eco-friendly habits slide – not when you’re exploring these cities though!
We’ve put together a list of the world’s most eco-friendly and environmentally conscious cities, where it takes more than a few re-usable bags to earn your eco-warrior badge. Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll take home a few tips to help you keep your little patch of the world sparkling!
Copenhagen, Denmark: will is be the first carbon neutral city?
It’s hardly surprising that a Scandinavian city features high on our list: the Nordic nations are trailblazers when it comes to environmental issues – and the Danish capital has been crowned “Europe’s Green Capital”. The city is home to twice as many bikes as cars, slashing carbon emissions and improving the health of its residents – but are they content with this? Nope. The ever-ambitious Danes aim to be the first carbon-neutral city by 2025 – go Denmark!
Amsterdam, Netherlands: more bikes than people.
Another city which chooses two wheels over four is lively Amsterdam, where there are actually more bikes than people, but that’s not all the Dutch are doing in their bid to help the planet. The city is committed to helping local farmers, so when Amsterdammers get the munchies they can chow down on more affordable organic food – which is not only better for you but more sustainable too.
Stockholm, Sweden : cleanest city in the world
We’re heading back up north for our next green city to beautiful Stockholm: the world’s cleanest city. Known as the home of leggy blondes and cinnamon buns, the stylish Swedish capital is also home to one of the most sophisticated energy-producing systems in the world; which works by converting sewage (gross) into bio-fuel (great). The city is hopes to be the first fossil-fuel free city by the year 2050 – we’re rooting for you Stockholm.
Vancouver, Canada : Keeping carbon emissions down
Oh, Canada…Beautiful mountain views, clear lakes, awesome National Parks and clean, fresh air – and boy, are they not willing to give up one single breath of it! Canada is the perfect poster boy for pollution-free living and has been working hard to keep its air as fresh as a daisy. That hard work paid off when they were recently recognised as having the lowest carbon emissions of any major city in North America. Maybe that’s how Ryan Gosling stays looking so good…
San Francisco, USA: Keeping it local and organis
San Fran’s list of eco-credentials is almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge: from being passionate about locally-grown, organic food; to committing to keeping their city clean and keen water conservation habits – ‘Frisco’s residents are first-rate eco-warriors. Perhaps most impressive of all is how the city said see-ya to single use plastic bottles.
So, there you have it, just a few examples of cities coming together to make small everyday choices which count towards a huge overall change! Now, where are my green bags…
