Going green is everywhere. We try to eat organic foods,to save electricity, to cycle or walk instead of drive, all in an attempt to reduce our carbon footprint. Perhaps with all this talk on “re-use,reduce,recycle”, we’re even feeling a bit of Green fatigue at the moment.
As globalization seems to make the world a much smaller place, it’s easy to see how the lives of people (and plants and animals and ecosystems) everywhere are interlinked. One country’s pollution quickly can become another country’s environmental and economic crisis; pesticides used in Argentina can affect the health of people in the United States, and greenhouse gas emissions from Australia can affect a diminishing rain forest in Brazil.
Where does this leave our already over populated cities? With 60 percent of the world’s population moving to cities by 2030, the pressures on urban living are enormous.Adopting greener lifestyle choices as communities and groups of people within a city is the key to improving quality of life for all. Sustainability is our only option; and surely the hope of creating better environments for the future, is enough to renew our energy in the Green fight.
This week on Metropolis,we’re discussing the global impact of “Going Green” and the role recycling plays in creating a sustainable city.
Listen to previous editions of the Metropolist Show here.