Thinking about life in the country seems like it would be the far greener option over living in the city. After all, the air is cleaner and there is actually green space just about everywhere you look. It would make sense that living in the country or suburbs would have a much lower carbon footprint than living in a dirty, loud, and crowded city.
Only, that isn’t 100% true. There are ways in which the city is far less impactful on the environment than the suburbs. And vice versa. It isn’t easy to do the right thing these days so you really have to be informed before you make a decision.
Luckily, there are real estate agents like Debrah Lee Charatan who work with clients to help them make responsible decisions when it comes to the ethics of real estate. In this article, we will give you some food for thought when trying to decide between the country and the city.
Country pros
Living closer to nature makes people more aware of how they impact the environment. If they enjoy spending time by the local lake and then see that it is getting polluted over time, then this impacts them in a direct way. So, they are more likely to seek out environmentally friendly ways to live.
There is even more access to healthy living when you have some space to use to grow plants and vegetables, for instance. This means that you are more conscious about what you put into your body. This also lessens the strain on supply chains that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels to bring fruit and vegetables in from far away.
Also, if a family is living in an independent house then they have more freedom to outfit the house with sustainable energy like solar panels or wind turbines.
Country cons
The two biggest cons are how much energy is required for a family of four to live in the suburbs or country. If you don’t have solar or other renewable power sources then you are relying on the grid which ends up leading to a much higher carbon footprint.
Then, you are in your car for just about everything you need to do. Going to the store, bringing the kids to school and sports activities, and even visiting friends all require driving. This leads to using a lot more fossil fuels than city dwellers. And a long commute to work is common.
City pros
When you live in the city, you usually have a smaller apartment and that requires less energy to heat and cool and keep the lights on. Since you are usually in a big building, there is less energy used per resident than the same number of people in the country.
And, you don’t usually need a car in the city. You can walk just about everywhere and public transportation is usually better than driving.
City cons
A high concentration of people in the city can lead to poor air and water since there is an intense amount of fossil fuels used to power a city. It takes a lot of resources to keep the environment around a city clean.
And all of the oil, salt, and dirt on the roads usually gets washed out to sea and pollutes the water on the coast which is bad news for fish and fisheries.
