Many cities around the world have adopted carbon neutral goals and other environmentally friendly campaigns to help green the world. This infographic from Mother Nature Network shows which “global cities stack up on being green.”
There are many categories on this infographic that give examples of sustainable cities and the actions they are taking to help the planet.
New York City is well on its way to planting 1 million new trees by 2017, while Vancouver pledged to plant 150,000 new trees by 2020. Copenhagen has introduced a legal requirement for vegetation-filled green roofs which will add a lot of green space to the metropolitan area. People in London are getting rid of their cars, bicycles rule the streets of Amsterdam, and Stockholm, Sweden gets almost half of its energy from renewable hydroelectric power.
But how do these measures help? Planting trees and increasing green space allows for more oxygen. It also reduces energy use by shading houses in summer, lessening the need for ridiculous amounts of air conditioning. Riding bicycles instead of cars and using renewable energy lessens the amount of harmful carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.
There’s more. The populations in many global cities are increasing energy efficiency by using renewable sources, ditching their cars, and recycling more.
The worst section on this graphic is the water consumption – cities are still using too much. But, some are taking reduction measures:
Not only is the US starting to change, but the world is too. We just have to work on one of our most precious resources, WATER, and then the planet will start to notice a difference.
Abbey Dufoe 