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Listening to a discussion about whether it is greener living in the city or the countryside?
Well living in the town or city means you maybe wouldnt need a car as there are many different transport options. Bus, train, tram or bicycle. So less pollution using less cars.
In tower blocks, heat rises, so you may not need to use so much energy to heat your flat etc...
But on the otherhand, you probably wouldnt have a garden to grow your own fruit & veg so buying food that has been transported from other countries wont reduce your carbon footprint.
So living in the country is better for your health? You may have a good sized garden to grow your own produce. You may buy locally from a farm shop. cheese, butter milk etc rather than a supermarket..so thats good isnt it?
But to get anywhere if you live in a rural village like me means you probably will need to use your car to get from a to b for work, shopping, drs, dentist as if you dont or cant drive anymore, the bus service may not suit.
Many years ago, my aunt lived in a village in sussex.3 miles from the nearest main rd. She didnt drive and her husband was away working everyday. Her bus only came to the village twice a week. Tuesday & Saturday. They had local deliveries of milk and bread from the baker.
Most country cottage type houses have kitchens with an Aga and burn logs and rubbish. They can cook on them too saving electricity but the burning of the logs etc causes pollution!
Less street lighting in the countryside too saving energy.
So what do others think and which is the greener place to live?
Florence in the hebrides
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sorry, just noticed it reads Bumkin. I meant Bumpkin!
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There’s probably more Chelsea Tractors in cities than there are in the country.
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When we returned home to London after time away in the countryside we could smell the stinky yellow cloud which sits over the city. No contest.
Btw Florence, you can amend your thread title by clicking on 'edit' in your OP if you want to :-)
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I used to live in North London but moved to rural Bedfordshire. I still have family there and when I go back to visit I can't wait to come back here. The streets are disgusting, the air is stale and hardly and not many green spaces anymore. Here we are surrounded by fields and open countryside and the air is fresh.
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Here in a village in Lochaber, we have clean air - and some street lights.
My house is all electric, therefore low emission (but expensive).
But no buses - at least not any that go or return at useful times - so a car is essential.
Nearest shop (a smallish Co-op) is 7 miles away.
Nearest dentist is 10 miles away.
GP is 14 miles away.
Nearest hospital is 20 miles away.
Nearest town with choice of supermarkets is 20 miles away.
Grocery deliveries are possible, but from only Morrisons or Tesco - if you can get a delivery slot.
I prefer to choose my own groceries, to see quality, use-by dates, etc.
No farm shops, farmers' markets or similar, though there are one or two independent semi-local companies doing deliveries of very expensive veg boxes, or meat boxes.
I would love to live within walking distance of a shop! Or have a frequent bus service.
But we've been completely Covid free until just the last month, when some people have come back from holiday and brought it with them.
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Argyll Gran, I live in a very similar area to you. My nearest hospital is 20 miles away as are the 2 supermarkets coop & Tesco and yes it jolly hard getting a slot sometimes too. Yes I do like to choose my own groceries when i can, not quite the same shopping online but its the only way i can get shopping just now as cant drive so small blessings.
But for all that, i wouldnt move back to the mainland town i came from 30 years ago...no chance. The air is cleaner here and very little crime.
Florence in the hebrides
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I've lived in many places.
When I was an ag lab in Blackmore End, we lived in 2 different houses.
One was about a mile from the village, which was where the once a week bus went from.
There was no village shop, but 2 pubs.
The house was from the 1950's/1960's, with no central heating, one fire, and the kitchen and bathroom were additions, that froze in the Winter - had ice on the inside!
However, we grew veg, and had ducks, that we ate on a regular basis, thanks to Peggy, who would disappear into the adjacent woods, and return with up to 20 ducklings (we had the ducks for eggs, but couldn't have an excess of ducks, so they were eaten)
Our cooker was run on calor gas.
Then we moved to an older house, in the village. This place had no central heating either - just the one fire, but it had an Aga, which heated the whole house, and I cooked on it.
We had less room for the ducks, so they gradually went, but we still grew veg.
In both places, we would drive the car once a week into Braintree for groceries, etc.
Both our children were born whilst we lived in the village, and they wore towelling nappies. Milk came from the farm, I made clothes for all of us. I had a sewing machine (18th birthday present from my ex - I still have it, and it still works!), and a knitting machine, I also hand knitted.
I'm probably less 'green' than I used to be. Working 9 - 5 (albeit at home) limits what I can do.
My last house was a 20 minute walk from town, and buses reduced from one every 15 minutes to one an hour.
There were 2 local shops and a Post Office, but they all went, as the buses reduced!
Where I live now, there's a Post office, shop, pharmacy and Indian take away one way, and a shop, ATM, and hairdresser's the other way - both about 10 minutes walk away, both involve a horrendous hill.
Buses are every half hour, but the stops are outside the shops!
I now get my groceries delivered, and probably catch the bus once every 3 weeks into town .
No room to grow veg, and both houses had/have central heating - though it's not very efficient in my current house. Attic lagging is way out of date, and crumbling concrete floor is cold, not helped by the huge ventilation grid in the living room - now uneccesary as there is neither an open fire, nor a gas fire in the room - just the gas connector sticking out of the wall, and uneven floor where the hearth was, and the chimney breast taking up a huge space in my bedroom! :-(
So, it's not so much where you live, but the situation!
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