Living in Vancouver is not a small thing, besides the constant rain and the chilly winds, life in Vancouver is all colored green. It’s astonishing coming from abroad and watching how the respect for nature is an intrinsic characteristic of the city. Buildings are built integrating nature, not against it. The air and the sound of seagulls cheer the morning that also smells like fresh coffee (organic, fair-trade and served on a cute mug). If you are lucky enough to wake up to a sunny day, it will be magical, almost surreal.
Something I love about Vancouverites is that they inherited the appreciation for nature from their native ancestors, and make it work with their innovative, technological new world. The respect they show extends to each person self. Letting people be themselves just like letting flowers blossom, and that is also an endearing appreciation for human nature.
I am aware there is still a way to go to make our modern lifestyle more sustainable, but I believe this city is going through the right path. By making being green a holistic perspective that goes far beyond recycling and it’s ingrained in our everyday activities and (most importantly) decisions.
It is sometimes difficult to appreciate such mentality when you have always been exposed to it. Never the less, having a green lifestyle is an asset that gives Vancouver its unique spirit.
I come from a big Metropolis that emanates buzz, colors, traffic, and noise. We are certainly dependent on ecology, but we haven’t seen it in the same way as Vancouverites do. We still use nature as a source, one that has been exhausted by the overpopulated crowd. It is about time we start learning from this holistic approach.
Hey Ana! What an inspirational post! I really feel you, because I come from a big Metropolis too, characterized by pollution, traffic and noise. How do you think that we can extrapolate this love and respect for the city to our crowded Metropolis? In my opinion, I think that a good way to face this issue is from education. Children should be shown the importance of nature that surround us. We should try to teach them this holistic perspective of nature that you are taking about and make them understand nature as a gift to enjoy and not as a source to waste.
Hi Berta!
Thanks for your comment,
I completely agree with you! I have high hopes on millennials and Gen Z’s driving the change! Meanwhile, we can start by modifying our actual consumption patterns, and being thoughtful of the repercussion of our actions. I love what you said about nature as a gift and not a source. I think if that’s the motto of our actions, we’ll begin to act accordingly.
Hello Ana!
I really enjoyed reading your post as you described life in Vancouver in such a positive and thoughtful way. This place is a beautiful mixture of city, ocean and forests. While the diverse community is struggling with issues like homelessness and affordability, it strives to achieve a balance between social, environmental and economic elements. As you probably know, Vancouver follows the “Greenest City 2020 Action Plan” which focuses on the areas carbon, waste and ecosystems. This strategy was developed about 10 years ago and you can read about its progress in published documents.
If you are interested to find our more you can check out this website: https://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/greenest-city-action-plan.aspx
Hi Teresa!
Thanks for sharing the article with me! It’s clear sustainability is a delicate equilibrium that might not be the easiest thing to achieve! But certainly it’s worth the effort, such as the commitment shown in iniatives like the the Action Plan that you shared with me. Thank you!
I really enjoyed reading this post. I come from a country that does not even recycle, so it felt like a breath of fresh air when I first came to Vancouver. I believe that other countries should do what Canada has done, which is ingrain the green lifestyle into their cultures, making activities such as recycling habitual. The sustainable lifestyle would seem so much more appealing to others who do not live it if they get to experience it like the people in Vancouver.