Implementing a more sustainable lifestyle can become a frustrating task. Especially, living in a city. There are many possibilities for sustainable urban living, but where to start? Does it really make a difference if I live more sustainably?

Many tips and tricks for a more sustainable lifestyle seem unrealistic or driven by making a profit with green products. Some sustainable living tips are very generic, which is fine, but not applicable in every context. With this in mind, this article focuses on sustainable urban living.

In other words, it is important to distinguish different settings to understand that not every solution works in every scenario. Urban and rural ways of life are not the same. Even urban and suburban lifestyles can differ immensely from each other. 

I spent most of my life in urban and suburban neighbourhoods. Although I gained some experience living in rural areas like outback Australia and farming in New Zealand, I would say that sustainable (sub)urban living is currently my expertise.

Why is sustainable urban living important?

Today, 56% of the world’s population (4.4 billion people) lives in cities. By the year 2050, the global urban population will grow to 68% (~ 9.7 billion people). Urban areas grow rapidly due to rising population growth and migration from rural areas. For this reason, we need more practical urban living strategies to make life in cities more sustainable.

What does sustainable urban living mean?

Briefly, I see sustainable urban living as an opportunity to improve city life while simultaneously being environmentally and socially responsible. It is a lifestyle of care – caring for yourself and your loved ones and the entity which supports our livelihoods: Earth.

From an urban perspective, sustainable living is about creating and supporting systems that are socially responsible and do not harm the environment. Most cities operate on the principles of linear waste streams: Take, make, use and waste.

Difference of waste systems: Linear (left) vs Circular (right)

Urban areas are nurturing ground for many problems such as high population density, inadequate infrastructure, pollution, crime, poverty, congestion, health hazards and abnormal use of resources. The majority of cities were not built to support a healthy and thriving life, but to benefit capitalistic structures and the economy. 

Sustainability is all about finding solutions to living better and lighter. Many issues we might see as orderly or business-as-usual practices are far from normal. The way we live our lives has a direct impact on the capability of the Earth’s ecosystems to sustain themselves.

Our well-being depends on well-functioning and healthy environments, but most cities are not in tune with nature. On the contrary, urban living pushes the Earth’s limits to sustain life. 

Related:

Why We Need To Understand The Planetary Boundaries

On the positive side, we have the chance to make lives better – and we have to. There are many ways to improve the environment as well as the social impact of urban areas. Under the name of Smart Cities, some measures to improve the quality of life in urban areas are

• Boosting green spaces (e.g. parks, forests, green recreational areas)
• Reconnecting with urban areas
• Embed urban agriculture
• Reduce excessive resource use (e.g. energy, water, food)
• Improve public infrastructure (for buses, bikes and walking)

Less stuff, more lifestyle choices

Making sustainable systems mainstream in every area of urban living is crucial to minimise the pressure on the environment and citizens. We need to put unsustainable practices into the trash once and for all.

The more we understand how our lifestyle choices impact us and the world around us, the more we become incentivised to find ways to live sustainably. 

Lifestyle choices define a person’s ability to decide how to live and behave. Furthermore, lifestyle choices are influenced by attitudes, tastes and values. Habits play an important role. They can be hard to break – but it is not impossible.

With our choices, we can decide to support our well-being, the well-being of our communities and a thriving natural environment. The issue at stake is that not all of us have access to the resources we need to make better choices. Lifestyle choices are affected by socioeconomic status, level of education, family, social networks, gender, age, media and other everyday influences.

We need to take those into account who cannot make sustainable choices easily. Therefore, we need to find solutions that make sustainable decisions convenient and easy. Here comes our ingenuity into play to create solutions to make sustainability mainstream.

Every single human is on a journey and no two are the same. 

The overall goal of sustainable living: Living within the planet’s means

There is an easy way to highlight what we should focus on now. Therefore, I created this simple visualisation of what we need to focus on when it comes to sustainable transitions:

This visualisation is inspired by one of the sustainability concepts called Triple Bottom Line – aka planet, people and profit. 

Related:

Triple Bottom Line: The Foundation Of Sustainable Action And Performance

Simply put, the visual depicts that without a planet there is no room or livelihood for people and profit. We have too many environmental and social issues to deal with. Consequently, the fairytale of the economy solving all our problems is simply … a man-made fairytale.

Of course, this visualisation is very simplified, but it transfers a crucial message. We need to shift our focus towards taking care of what enables our existence: our home planet and our people. 

Sustainable urban living plan: It is easier than you think

At this point, I wanted to share with you sustainable urban living strategies. However, I changed my mind because now I want to give you the most detailed action plan for sustainable urban living there ever was. 

Nonetheless, I want to share with you the different areas of sustainable urban living where you have the choice to make a difference:

• Financials
• Politics
• Household/Home
• Food & Drink
• Clothes
• Travel
• Transport
• Products/Services
• Community 
• Recreation
• Waste
• Work

If there is any area you are specifically interested in, let me know by writing to me (info@reimaginesustainability.com) or via any of my social channels. 

Making sustainable urban living worth looking forward to

Sustainable living is an opportunity to improve the quality of life for many. Unfortunately, sustainable practices are still portrayed as complicated or expensive, but in fact, the opposite is the case. 

Doing things differently is a beneficial way to change focus in a too fast-paced world. Many lack a sense of passion in their life. I have been there too. There were days when I doubted my effort made any sense, any impact at all. In reality, the big impact itself does not matter as much as your impact on your well-being. From there, everything will come into place.

Related:

7 Powerful Ways To Focus On What Is In Your Control

Humans are not a lost cause. Thinking this way does not do justice to all the people we love and respect. More and more people take action every day because they do care. They do not want catastrophes to happen. They create a life worth living for themselves, their loved ones, and all of us.

The more people jump on the journey, the more responsibility is distributed. You are not alone in creating a sustainable lifestyle. If you feel like there is little support from your social circle, become the change you want to see. Learning will be needed on everyone’s part. You can lead the way.

You can change your perspective. For this reason, I developed a ladder framework to implement the Rs of Sustainability. Simply sign-up for the Reimagine Sustainability Newsletter and receive this guide for free!