A new chart has been distributed by Mercer Consulting when it released
its annual Quality of Living report, called the Eco-City Ranking. While
Toronto was located at a solid 16th place in the world and in third
place in North America, in terms of regular quality of living, our
position in the Eco-City chart is not so good.
This chart named the best cities in terms of water availability and drinkability, waste removal, calibre of sewage systems, air pollution and traffic congestion. In other words, the top-notch cities create minimal pollution and take advantage of maximum renewable resources. While we would assume the green cities such a Oslo to rate high, we wouldn't have assumed industrial cities such as Stuttgart to be more eco-friendly than Toronto, but they are! Even when you only compare the North American cities, Toronto didn't do very well, easing in at number 11. The city with world's highest ecology standards is Calgary, trailed by Honolulu and both Ottawa and Helsinki receiving the bronze medal. Two more Canadian cities ranked better than Toronto and they were Montreal and Vancouver in 13th place.
While the figures for general quality of living may be okay, the figures for the eco-city push us down to 16th place, consequently we need to do something about the eco-friendliness of Toronto. As Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer, said: "A city’s eco-status or attitude toward sustainability can have significant impact on the quality of living of its inhabitants".
Our dragging our heels in environmental quality of life may have control on our overall quality of life, quicker than many of us would expect.
Julie Kinnear is local green enthusiast and a MLS Toronto professional
This chart named the best cities in terms of water availability and drinkability, waste removal, calibre of sewage systems, air pollution and traffic congestion. In other words, the top-notch cities create minimal pollution and take advantage of maximum renewable resources. While we would assume the green cities such a Oslo to rate high, we wouldn't have assumed industrial cities such as Stuttgart to be more eco-friendly than Toronto, but they are! Even when you only compare the North American cities, Toronto didn't do very well, easing in at number 11. The city with world's highest ecology standards is Calgary, trailed by Honolulu and both Ottawa and Helsinki receiving the bronze medal. Two more Canadian cities ranked better than Toronto and they were Montreal and Vancouver in 13th place.
While the figures for general quality of living may be okay, the figures for the eco-city push us down to 16th place, consequently we need to do something about the eco-friendliness of Toronto. As Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer, said: "A city’s eco-status or attitude toward sustainability can have significant impact on the quality of living of its inhabitants".
Our dragging our heels in environmental quality of life may have control on our overall quality of life, quicker than many of us would expect.
Julie Kinnear is local green enthusiast and a MLS Toronto professional