Sustainable Urban Living

• Sustainable urban living

  
  

  Urban living, which is not wasteful and does not pollute/ minimal damage on the environment
• Water conservation definition

  • Only as much water should be taken from the environment as can be naturally replaced.
  • Water conservation schemes reduce the amount of water used.
• Examples of water conservation

  • Encouraging people to use less water e.g. by turning taps off whilst brushing their teeth.
  • collecting rainwater for the use in gardens and toilets (grey water).
  • Installing toilets that use less water to flush (dual flushing)
• Waste conservation

  • More recycling means few resources are used, e.g. metal cans can be melted and used to make more cans.
  • Less waste is produced, which reduces the amount that goes to landfill.
• Waste conservation schemes

  • Recycling facilities for larger items like fridges.
  • Collection of household recycling boxes, bins = less at landfill
• Problems with waste conservation collection

  • Incineration rates have increased to prevent landfill being used, producing huge amounts of air pollution, reducing the quality of the air.
  • Inefficient 2 week collections
  • People still illegally fly tip
• Energy conservation

  • . Energy conservation schemes reduce the use of non-renewable sources of energy; fossil fuels, and increase energy-efficiency
• Example of energy conservation schemes

  • Encouraging people to use less energy at home e.g. by turning off lights when they’re not needed.
  • Promoting renewable energy sources (wind, solar, tidal etc.) over traditional coal or gas fired power station.
• Problems with energy conservation / alternative energy

  • Wind turbines contributes to noise pollution, eye-sore
  • Renewable energy resources are expensive; to build the infrastructure + increasing electricity cost on the consumer
  • Can be unreliable due to unreliable power output
• Preserving natural environments/ Creating green spaces 


  • Green spaces contribute to sustainability by providing a habitat for wildlife, encouraging biodiversity, helping keep the air clean, reduce stress levels as nature relaxes and providing a natural recreational area.
• Benefits of green spaces

  • They encourage people to exercise more + to use alternative transport e.g. bikes.
  • Area for habitats within the cities, encourages wildlife
  • Purifies the air + local air quality increases, makes people healthier, better quality of life
  • Reduces stress levels as nature is said to relax people
• Problems with green spaces

  • Limited space, only 5% of London is used for urban greening.
  • With housing crisis, difficult to set land spaces aside for these reason