When we think about sustainability, the first thing that comes to mind is nature, plants, animals, etc. So the most obvious answer to the question would be that living in the village is the most sustainable option.
Today we are going to discover if this is really so or if we have to rethink what a sustainable lifestyle means.
Let's start analyzing the house
Cities are compact population centers where we find that their inhabitants live in flats of a moderate or small size and that are part of a block of flats with several floors. These flats are much easier to heat than a single-family house in the middle of the countryside, since they take advantage of each other's heat to keep their houses warm and also insulate themselves from the cold and heat by not giving all their facades to the outside. Thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by this heating. On the other hand, these apartments usually lack a garden, so they do not need to spend water to irrigate it, compared to the large amounts of water needed to maintain it.
Advantages of grouping people
The fact that there are so many people living together in a block of flats not only makes less land use necessary for houses, but also makes it easier to manage waste from all of them. Also, the recycling bin system is easier to work on these floors as it is easily accessible to everyone. While in the town it is sometimes necessary to use the car to reach the recycling bins, making it difficult for people to practice waste separation.
Being more concentrated, urban areas also offer more facilities in terms of public transport, making it easier for people to use public transport to go to work or walk to places since they have a large number of shops nearby. In the towns, job opportunities are limited, so it is usually necessary to use the car to get to jobs, shops and stores can also be found at far distances and it is also necessary to use the car to get to them. This dependence on the car makes it necessary to buy one, something that does not support sustainability, and its use in daily tasks adds amounts of carbon dioxide to the air that otherwise would not be added in the city.
What about food?
In the cities we also find more offers of sustainable products than in the towns. And it is that new product offers such as vegan food or vegetarian restaurants are normally introduced first in these places.
When you live close to the countryside, it is possible to buy local products at the farmers' markets, thus making sure of their origin, but that does not mean that these farmers are always sustainable, but that they can use pesticides and a non-exploitative cultivation method. sustainable land. While in the cities there are stores specializing in sustainable food and it is increasingly easier to find organic food in normal stores and supermarkets.
City vs. Village
With this we do not mean that living in the village is all negative things, in the city we can find other advantages.
Cities are more modernized so they consume more electricity to power billboards, shop window lighting or smart devices.
Life in the countryside is slower so consumption also slows down. Due to the stress of the city and how fast its inhabitants live, consumption also tends to accelerate.
Life in nature
The connection with nature is much stronger in the villages. It is easier to plant trees, it is possible to have organic gardens in the gardens, and the connection children feel there with nature can encourage them to carry out activities to care for and preserve it.
In the city, noise, light and air pollution contribute to a more stressful lifestyle and favor the emergence of diseases in children and adults.
Knowing all this we can conclude that it is not important where you live but how you live. The important thing is to learn to have a more conscious lifestyle where we acquire ecological and sustainable habits so that our home and our day to day have the least possible impact on nature.
Live your best life
Some habits to start making your home more sustainable are:
- Wash clothes in cold water and do not use the dryer.
- Install solar panels.
- Change your light bulbs for LED ones.
- Insulate windows and doors well.
- Use a programmable thermostat.
- Recycle.