Striving for Sustainability in Vancouver

Being a beloved city with a thriving economy and access to pristine nature hasn’t been enough for Vancouver. Throughout its history, a strong dedication to protecting the environment has guided its social movements and policies.

Today, Vancouver ranks as the third most sustainable city in North America, according to the Global Sustainability Index. It is the highest ranked green city in Canada.

Vancouver is committed to sustainable practices.

Over 90 percent of the city’s electricity comes from sustainable sources, primarily hydroelectric power. Compared the majority of North American towns who rely heavily on fossil fuels for energy, this is a considerable improvement.

Additionally, Vancouver requires that all new construction meets high, green standards. As a result of this change, new buildings in Vancouver use half of the energy of those being built across the rest of Canada. Even a lot of the pools in Vancouver try to be more green by using salt water instead of all chlorine like Kitsilano pool. It’s a small step but every little bit counts.

Neighbourhood food networks inspire and enable sustainable food consumption and purchasing practices. Cigarette recycling has dramatically cut down on the litter along the streets. Just having good policies wasn’t enough Vancouver. By creating a Greenest City Action Plan, the City Council set the goal of being the greenest city in the world by 2020.

This initiative began with the Greenest City Action team in 2009. It focuses primarily on reducing carbon, decreasing waste, and preserving local ecosystems. Put into action in 2011, the GCAP is well on its way to achieving Vancouver’s goals.

The city aims to go zero-waste.

Becoming the greenest city in the world still wasn’t enough, so Vancouver set the goal to become completely Zero Waste by 2040.

The City of Vancouver has already banned plastic straws and polystyrene food packaging. Plastic shopping bags are no longer free, encouraging people to bring their own. Other key topics in the plan include food waste and recycling, repairing, or repurposing all products, not just the easy ones becoming common today.

Overall, Vancouver is a city to be respected and emulated for their dedication to protecting the environment and living green.

RID-OF-IT Junk Removal Vancouver serves all of Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Vancouver, East Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Surrey, Delta, Ladner, Tsawwassen, White Rock and surrounding areas in the Lower Mainland.

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RID-OF-IT will take care of your household junk removal needs at an affordable price. We will remove single items like a Couch, Mattress, or Appliance to full household junk removal for move outs. We recycle, and when possible will donate charitable items.

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