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There is some debate about the best way to help the environment, but it all boils down to two schools of thought. There are people who think that since they recycle or do street cleans with their church they are environmentalists. For them, it’s all about the little things we each can do to lessen our impact.

Then there are people who believe that large lifestyle changes are the only way to help the environment. For example, protesting the whole meat manufacturing industry, or minimizing the impact of your commute to work. This is where I fall.

So how did I accidentally become an environmentalist? I moved to Chicago. Yes, it was really that simple.

Moving to a large city enabled me to get rid of my car.

When I first moved to the city, I worked an hour away in the suburbs and drove over 60 miles one way every weekday. Not only did this commute take up about 3 hours of my day, but the additional pollution I was causing nawed at my conscience and I eventually realized I needed to change jobs.

Now, I work and attend school within four miles of my condo, and with the price of parking and gas in the city, it’s much more cost-efficient to take public transportation or walk/jog/bike everywhere. So we got rid of one of our cars and when I need to go more than a mile or two I take public trains and buses. While I miss driving, my daily routine is much more efficient because I can do something productive on my commute (like write this post).

Moving to a large city enabled me to become a vegetarian.

Becoming a vegetarian is not easy for most people, especially people who are very busy. Any new diet comes with a learning curve of how to substitute and prepare new foods, which busy people don’t have time for. Another concern I had was how becoming vegetarian would affect my social life. When I lived in rural Missouri, fine dining was Americanized-Mexican and dollar margaritas, and trips to fast food establishments happened every other day.

Living in the city provides a support system that addressed all my concerns. Since moving here, I’ve met so many people with special dietary needs. Like my vegan marketing professor who assigned a three page case write-up about cruelty to hens in poultry egg production. Or the guy on my team who only eats kosher meat. Also, while there is an unending supply of restaurants to eat at in the city, few of them are fast food establishments. It is fairly easy to find vegetarian food anywhere I go, and the impact of this new diet on my social life is negligent.

Moving to a large city enabled me to stop buying stuff.

Our tiny condo was more expensive than my parents’ mid-sized suburban home, but the benefit is that we can’t fit much stuff in it. We’ve been forced to get rid of things, which has been good for my closet. This also forces us to think about whether we truly need an item or not, and we’ve made a rule to get rid of two items for every one item we bring home (which my husband happily reminds me of every time I go shopping). Our lack of space has been a blessing, and we are slowly but surely embracing a simplistic, minimalist lifestyle.

Moving to a large city can help the environment? I know it seems counter-intuitive to some people, but this is my story. It’s certainly not the only way, and I don’t claim to have gotten here completely consciously - the title does say “accidentally” after all. Still, I can’t help but notice how many more tree-huggers there are in the city compared to the suburbs, and the three things I listed above give the most impact to help the environment.

Becoming an environmentalist is a way of life, not a once-monthly chance to wear a t-shirt that says “Support Organic Farmers.” Have you considered how your life choices are impacting our world?

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Categories: Activist, Urbanite
Tags: Environment, Features, Minimalism, Vegetarian

Monica O'Brien is the founder of Twenty Set, a website about personal and professional growth and development for the Millennial generation. She has been a blogger since 1998 when blogging was still in its “Dear Diary” form and in May 2007 began blogging for personal branding and profit.
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