I know a lot of people that care about self-sustainable ways of living and care about mother nature, but I can’t really say that about whole CITIES. Until now. Below is a list of cities that have got the right idea and are doing sustainability right! Hopefully word will spread and these awesome ideas will catch on in other cities around the world. Let’s follow the lead of these global front-runners of sustainability and healthier living! :)
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01 | Urban Farms and Land Share – Portland, Oregon
Farm My Yard is a program popular in Portland. It connects urban farmers with land to farm – a super simple concept! If someone has a house with yard space they are willing to share, the property owner prints a sign and posts it on the property. A farmer sees it and contacts the owner. If an agreement is made, a farmer will start to plant whatever was agreed. Then both the farmer and owner share the harvest.
Farmers can print a sign as well and advertise to their neighbors that they are willing to farm.
For information, visit farmmyyard.org
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02 | Global Tap Water – San Francisco, California
“San Francisco continues to lead the way in the nation’s environmental policy, with the Board of Supervisors on March 4 voting unanimously to bar the city from buying plastic water bottles and to ban distribution of plastic water bottles smaller than 21 ounces on city property starting Oct. 1 [2014]. The ban excludes city marathons and other sporting events.”
source: www.sfbg.com
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03 | Free Public City Bicycles – Copenhagen, Denmark
When I was in Copenhagen, I noticed blue bicycles all over the city that were free to use for as long as you’d like! The bike are scattered all over the city where ever people leave them. The bicycles also have maps on the handles so that you can easily navigate through the city.
I definitely took advantage of this and rode all over the city for a few days. This is such an amazing thing to have in city – not just for tourists, but for anyone wanting to get around. Good for planet, good for your health… a win-win all around!
“Launched in 1995 with 1,000 cycles, the project was the world’s first organized large-scale urban bike-sharing scheme, which, unlike its Dutch predecessor, featured what are now considered basic elements such as coin deposit, fixed stands and specially designed bikes with parts that can not be used on other bikes.”
source: en.wikipedia.org
Read more about Copenhagen here!
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04 | Water-Creating Billboard – Lima, Peru
Lima, Peru, the second largest desert capital in the world, has a real problem when it comes to their drinking water. Lima gets less than 2 inches of rain water a year, but the humidity of the air is usually 98%. So since collecting rain water is not an option, the University of Engineering and Technology of Peru have found a way to pull water right from the sky!
A water-creating billboard pulls water from the sky and turns it into drinking water for nearby residents. It also displays a hopeful message.
source: www.huffingtonpost.com
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05 | America’s First Public Food Oasis – Seattle, Washington
Seattle city officials came up with an idea for a food forest. They will plant a seven-acre public park with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts that will rival any produce market. The menu of foods includes yuzu citrus, guava, honeyberries, and persimmon; standard fruits like apples, pears, raspberries and blueberries; nut trees popping with walnuts and chestnuts; and a variety of culinary herbs.
“The entire project will be built around the concept of permaculture — an ecological design system, philosophy, and set of ethics and principles used to create perennial, self-sustaining landscapes and settlements that build ecological knowledge and skills in communities. The concept of a food forest is a core concept of permaculture design derived from wild food ecosystems, where land often becomes forest if left to its own devices. In a food forest, everything from the tree canopy to the roots is edible or useful in some way.”
sources: www.cnn.com and crosscut.com
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06 | Legal Rights Given to Mother Earth – Bolivia
Bolivia is to become the first country in the world to give nature comprehensive legal rights in an effort to halt climate change and the exploitation of the natural world, and to improve quality of life for the Bolivian people.
Once fully approved, the legislation will provide the Earth with rights to: life and regeneration; biodiversity and freedom from genetic modification; pure water; clean air; naturally balanced systems; restoration from the effects of human activity; and freedom from contamination.
The Law of Mother Earth includes the following:
- The right to maintain the integrity of life and natural processes.
- The right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered.
- The right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration.
- The right to pure water.
- The right to clean air.
- The right to balance, to be at equilibrium.
- The right to be free of toxic and radioactive pollution.
- The right to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities
The law also promotes “harmony” and “peace” and “the elimination of all nuclear, chemical, biological” weapons.
Read the full article here
Hopefully other cities will follow suit and I’ll have to update this list quite often! :)
If you know of a city that is doing something awesome, either comment or email me! I’ll research it and add it to the list! Thanks for reading!
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