Where you choose to live

• The place we choose to live has a great deal to do with how sustainably we can live
• Level I- live in a densely populated area where goods and services are within walking distance
• Level II- live rurally on a energy/ food independent farm
• Level III- live in a planned sustainable community

Examples

• Living in a densely populated area you reduce your footprint by not drive often.
• Living rurally you do so by being relatively self sufficient It is very hard to live a fully sustainable life in a suburb because they are designed for automobiles and don’t offer the farming type options that living rurally does. Also they are they major cause of urban sprawl, which is a major problem.
• A sustainable society will require the population to be divided between rural (agrarian) populations and densely populated areas. Worldwide there are numerous examples of planned sustainable communities that fit both these models.

Additional Information

• this article shows how urban life can be more sustainable than rural life, but perhaps the author was just not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to live in truly sustainable rural way http://energybulletin.net/node/3757
• This is the web site of the Ithaca Eco-village, a planned sustainable community. http://www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us/
• This is a link to an article about the Cleveland Ecovillage, which represents a different model of planned sustainable living. http://www.gcbl.org/blog/marc-lefkowitz/green-cottages-make-cleveland-ec...