Sustainable Cities Uncovered: What Makes Them So Green?

Sustainable cities and cleaner surroundings, free of pollution, collectively improve the standard quality of living for the people and the planet. When cities prioritize waste management and eco-friendly choices, they create healthier environments, benefiting all. We bring to you some of the greenest cities that live sustainably - find out what makes them green. These cities could serve as a powerful inspiration for better waste management systems, potentially motivating other cities to adopt similar practices. For instance, consider Delhi, India's largest city, which grapples with managing approximately 11,000 tons of waste daily. It's also home to the famous Ghazipur landfill, a man-made mountain of trash.

Such examples call for the urgent need to adopt sustainable waste management solutions that these greener cities have implemented. We list a variety of cities that are trying to recycle waste, have systematic measures in place, and follow them. They are on a path to a greener city. The cities that walk the talk, for sustainability and better living.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Eco-friendly is like Copenhagen's second name - it’s its calling. A city that does it all in sustainability, supporting local, organic food, the culture, the city, and sustainable measures.

Sustainable transport? It's a city full of cyclists. Cycles everywhere you turn, dedicated space for cycling with lanes, the city itself seems to be built to encourage cycling, and extremely pedestrian-friendly. 

They are also more inclined towards wind and solar energy dominating the city’s power landscape and constantly involved with global renewable projects.

Wondering what tourism looks like? It’s extremely sustainable! Meet CopenPay, an initiative rewarding tourists for climate action and sustainable tourism, allowing them to earn rewards like free meals or coffee or a museum tour and other activities by participating in green tasks like clean-up volunteering work. It attracts tourists and creates awareness with eco-friendly travelling.

We cannot not address the big CPHFW, the Copenhagen Fashion Week. They have banned wild animal skins, feathers, and fur from its runways starting in 2025, shifting more towards reusable, eco-friendly, and cruelty-free materials. Copenhagen, a home to several sustainable initiatives, taking steps to lower its footprint. The journey is just getting greener and greener.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sustainable energies, spaces, to dining and fashion, climate action laws to circular plans, Amsterdam is working towards a greener, circular economy within the city.

The next 25 years, by the time we reach 2050, the Netherlands wants to become fully circular. That means mainly reducing raw material usage, finding alternatives, and sharing what already exists.

And again, Amsterdam is also a bicycle friendly city with cycle lanes and bike rentals everywhere. No wonder why it is popularly called as the cycling capital of the world. For health and environment, and to make it a part of a bigger zero carbon movement, the Dutch city loves cycling.

Want to know something iconic? Here’s the fun fact: Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the only museum in the world that has a road in it with a dedicated bicycle tunnel, a passage for cyclists, and where cars are banned. How cool is that!

Initiatives like Fashion for Good are also born from Amsterdam, a global initiative that wants to make fashion more sustainable and responsible. The Circular Monitor Tracker is a tool or system used to track, measure, and understand the city's progress in becoming more sustainable and circular.

We have to talk about their Repair & Share Culture. They have exclusive repair centers and repair cafés to fix rather than throw away. Martine Postma is an environmentalist and journalist from the Netherlands who created the concept of the Repair Café movement.

Taking "sharing is caring" to another level, they have Peerby, a circular sharing platform to share and rent goods from nearby neighbourhoods. You’ll find clothing to furniture to any tools to lend, rent, share, and care for sustainable living.

Home to Lena, a fashion library, addressing the fashion industry waste problem, a big no-no to landfills. The Lena platform allows renting clothes with a pay-as-you-borrow system.

The goal is to reduce waste, spread the impact, and the residents are following it at a speedy pace.

Kiel, Germany

Officially named a Zero Waste City, Kiel has been reducing its waste, taking measures for a greener living for its people, climate action steps, and public transport—lots of cycling is used by the locals, with continuous development of cycle paths.

Kiel has actually been a climate protection city since 1996—that’s 29 years and continuing to change, adapting for eco practices. The city has been recognized and has received awards for sustainability from time to time.

The Zero Waste Cities Certification is a European certification standard created by Zero Waste Europe. They are always raising awareness about waste prevention. They have banned single-use plastic items. The city has sorting systems to segregate trash and uses a Pay-as-You-Throw system for mindful consumption, which means residents are charged based on the amount of waste they throw away. Kiel has a long-term commitment to the environment, leading to lasting change through continuous action. The city's promise to sustainability is still going strong.

Curitiba, Brazil

Curitiba, Brazil, has recycled 70% of its waste, and they have been doing this since the 1980's. That’s an impressive number, especially when we compare it to global averages.

Now, zooming out to the world stage, things sadly look a bit different. According to the World Bank, only 13.5% of global waste gets recycled, and 5.5% is composted.

So, Curitiba is setting an example, recycling almost more than 5 times the global average. The real question is - what can other cities learn from Curitiba?

They have one of the highest recycling rates at 70% with a population that is close to 2-3 million people. It is known to be the most sustainable city in Brazil. Easy and accessible public transportation to conscious-driven programs helped achieve this.

They have an amazing bye-bye landfill-like eco-friendly program called Cambio Verde, which translates to "Green Exchange". This is where it gets amazing! The residents get 1 kilogram of fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, or bus tickets for every 4 kilograms of recyclable waste. This initiative is designed to spread education on waste reduction, incentivize high participation rates, and divert a large portion of waste from landfills.

It keeps getting better! Another incredible initiative is the Free University of the Environment (Unilivre), Curitiba, a nonprofit organization spreading knowledge about the environment and ecology to the population. Located in a recycled building, it is also a tourist attraction, where education is free. Yes, they have some free programs to learn about sustainability and it’s purely to raise awareness.

Bonus: The Sustainable Towns of Japan

Special mention to small towns in Japan like Kamikatsu and Osaki. Having a small population does have an advantage over highly populated areas, but how they sort their waste to keep the town clean makes them truly sustainable and something we can learn from.

Kamikatsu, Japan

Kamikatsu is a very small town, with a very small population of around 1,500 people, but with a big heart for the environment. They have clear, extensive waste sorting methods. They are known for being a zero-waste city.

Did you know? They sort their waste into 45 categories. The incredible 45! And we love it.

What is the result? Their recycling rate is 80 percent.

The Kuru Kuru Shop, a concept born from the zero-waste Kamikatsu town, is a thrift store where people can donate items they no longer want, and others can take them for free. The word "kuru kuru" means "re-circulation" in Japanese.

They have a Zero Waste Center, where they state, "Kamikatsu is a society that focuses on not generating waste, instead of how to treat waste."

Locally produced food, zero-waste cafes, everything is about zero waste becoming a standard way of life in Kamikatsu.

Osaki, Japan

Next stop, Osaki, the recycling town of Japan. With close to only 12,000 residents, united as a community for change, it diverts 80 percent of its waste from landfills.

Not wanting to use incinerators to burn waste, they ran out of landfills in 2003. When that was their only way forward, they got together and built a waste sorting and recycling system. This has been going on for two decades. You know, just like the saying 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall,' this is what they did by being united and taking collective action.

So, the outcome? They still don’t have an incinerator, and they promise to continue recycling. At this point, it has become a way of life.

They sort their waste into 27 categories, which are then sent for recycling to factories in Japan. Food waste goes into composting.

The United Nations covered their story in a six-minute documentary, showing how the power of recycling has transformed their town. Residents say they have been recycling for so long that it’s not even a challenge anymore.

The Big Picture

For densely populated areas, of course, we need stricter laws in place, but, hear us out, we as individuals hold more power to bring change.

Like always, everything begins at home, building a mindful routine, being conscious of our surroundings, wherever we go. When we talk more about waste reduction, it starts a chain. The word spreads, the neighbourhood stays clean, and the need for change grows.

Tell us which sustainable city you would want to live in and which sustainable initiative inspired you the most. What changes would you like to make in your city to reduce waste?

Please leave a comment down below and share your thoughts @refash_ to become the voice for a more eco-friendly future in your city.