What about entire cities, though? What can cities do to become greener? Let's take a closer look.

It Doesn't Need to be National

Greener living doesn't always need to be done on a national level. Sometimes, the leaders of cities have more power in this arena than they might think. City leaders can institute the use of such things as local hydrogen fuel cells and local generation of power, and even smart meters just to name a few things. 

It Doesn't Have to be Pretty

Currently, there are at least 4 cities that are attempting sustainable garbage processing. While this isn't the most aesthetically pleasing thing that can be done, it is something that can play a critical part in helping cities to improve their levels of energy efficiency and to become greener in the long term.

Most of the time, people probably don't think of trash as being a major component of greener living. However, using more innovative strategies for waste management can be a very effective method of addressing being more eco-friendly.

Parks, Parks, and More Parks

By the year 2050, 75% of the population of the world is expected to be living in urban areas. This means that cities will be massive contributors to CO2 levels and overall pollution, but it also gives them an opportunity to make changes that can have a deep impact. One way to do this is by creating parks. These can be considered the lungs of cities. The trees in them clean the air and the parks themselves give the citizens a place where they can relax, take a deep breath and reconnect with nature. They also act as a cooling counterbalance to the heat created by all the concrete and asphalt.

Getting Around

Commuters in places like Dubai, Beijing and Switzerland have brand new metro systems that they can take to work. People in Istanbul, Mexico City, and Los Angeles have been riding buses that have their own lanes. But, whether they are humble or high tech, solutions for mass transit that let people get around easily and quickly without needing their own vehicle are one of the key elements to a city going green.

Best Practices for Green Cities

Turning your city into one that is green is more difficult that just having a good urban plan and stricter codes. Here are a few of the best practices from some of the most sustainable cities in the world.

1.  Goals that are ambitious and well – defined with regular progress reports

2.  Generating electricity using sustainable resources

3.  Strict building codes that favor green technology

4.  Investment in greener public transportation

5.  Policies and efforts to drastically cut water consumption and waste

6.  An increase in density

7.  Encouraging creative, knowledge – based economies

8.  Access to healthy and affordable food

9.  A city government that leads by example

10.  Encouraging of grassroots efforts that will engage the citizens

While we still have quite a long way to go when it comes to making our cities green, creating competitions between cities for first place can be a good thing.

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The Walk to School movement, run by the charity Living Streets, encourages children and parents to leave the car at home when it comes to the school run. Its annual walk-to-school month has inspired over two million primary school-aged children to take part in activities.

Ecologist director, Zac Goldsmith, teamed up with students at Shene School to produce a short film for their successful campaign for a dedicated school bus.

The Department for Transport has produced a safer journey to school guide to promote and increase the use of sustainable modes of transport for school journeys.

Roots & Shoots is the Jane Goodall Institute's Education Programme for young people. Its Mission Possible programme is a set of student and teacher resources for learning about, and improving, local environments.

Green Day is a climate change activity kit for schools from CABE, the government's independent adviser on architecture, urban design and public space.

The Globe Programme is an environmental education project linking nearly 600 schools in the UK, which help measure the standard of the local environment at their school and compare it with others.

Cool it Schools, a global online climate change and environmental showcase, has just launched Writing the World, a poetry-writing competition for young people judged by poet Sue Hubbard. An Ecologist article describes how it aims to inspire students to act.

Eco-schools is an international award programme that guides schools through a seven-step process to help them address a variety of environmental issues, ranging from litter and waste to healthy living and biodiversity. Schools work towards gaining one of three awards – Bronze, Silver and the prestigious Green Flag award, which symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity.

Climate Futures provides curriculum activities focused on unravelling the complexity of climate change and environmental issues for lower secondary and upper primary students (10-14 years old).

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Footprint Friends launched the Wipe Out Waste (WOW) Awards, calling on students to present their ideas for reducing waste. A panel of green "dragons" judge finalists' ideas, and the winning team will be asked to put their WOW idea into action. The 2009 winning idea was "stop throwing away perfectly good pencils" from students at Canon Burrows CE Primary School.

An education pack from the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust explains how to run a whole school litter campaign.

And this article from the Ecologist describes how Leeds University Student Union banned the sale of bottled water on campus.

The Field Studies Council, an environmental charity, is looking for schools to be involved in its European wildlife survey project which will monitor six common tree species and compare results from all over Europe on the BEAGLE projectwebsite.

The Earth Restoration Service's School Tree Nurseries Programme is a tree-planting project with schools to restore local degraded habitats. In Lewes, East Sussex, for example, trees have been planted on flood plains in the hope that they will help to alleviate future flooding.

The National Forest's Forest for All Project involves children and teachers in learning about bugs and bats, tracks and trails and habitats.

Sustainability has often been defined as how biological systems endure and remain diverse and productive. But, the 21st-century definition of sustainability goes far beyond these narrow parameters. Today, it refers to the need to develop the sustainable models necessary for both the human race and planet Earth to survive.

Sustainability is a balancing act. The United Nation’s 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future noted that sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations.

The concept continues to expand in scope. In 2000, the Earth Charter broadened the definition of sustainability to include the idea of a global society “founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.”

To achieve these lofty goals, humans will have to re-examine their policies on:

Old models of consumption and industrialization will not support the world’s growing population. If humans wish to have the water, materials and natural resources needed to thrive, a new approach to living is called for.