Research by British Business Energy reveals the best and worst cities to work in for the eco-conscious.
- – London, Frankfurt and Cambridge US named as the top 3 most eco-friendly cities to work in
- – Cambridge US has the most conscious commuters with 67% walking or cycling to work
- – Oslo, Norway has the highest percentage of renewable energy at 97.2% Research by British Business Energy looks at cities across the globe, analysing statistics including the percentage of people walking or cycling to work, the level of tree coverage across the city and the percentage of technology patents that were environment-related across each country to determine the best cities to work in for those conscious of their eco-footprint. You can view the graphic here.
In today’s society, being aware of your eco-footprint is increasingly important. Whether it’s during your commute, in the office, or even during your lunch break, some cities are better workplace options for environmentally-friendly employment.
Below outlines the cities taking the top five positions:
Rank Location Tree canopy Walking & cycling commuters Number of vegetarian and vegan restaurants % of tech patents that were Environment Related Renewable energy % 1 London, UK 12.7% 29% 3,709 10.72% 33% 2 Frankfurt, Germany 21.5% 33% 294 11.25% 46.2% 3 Cambridge, US 25.3% 67% 394 9.43% 14.7% 4 Oslo, Norway 28.8% 19% 224 8.26% 97.2% 5 Amsterdam, Netherlands 20.6% 58% 813 8.71% 12.1% *Table shows the top 5 eco-friendly cities to work in based on weighted scoring across all metrics shown.
London takes the top spot, largely driven by the number of restaurants catering for vegans and vegetarians alike, as well as a high percentage of tech patents that are environment-related (10.72%). Norway is, however, leading the way when it comes to renewable energy – 97.2% of all energy produced is renewable.
On the other end of the scale, you have South African cities Cape Town and Johannesburg, with an average of 2% of their workforce walking and cycling to work, as well as only 3.2% of their overall energy being renewable.
Conscious commuters
One of the ways we can be more conscious about our eco-footprint is looking at how we commute to work. Although it’s not possible for everyone, walking or cycling saves on jumping into our gas-guzzling cars. But which cities have the most conscious commuters?
- Cambridge, US – Where 67% choose to walk or cycle to the office.
- Amsterdam, Netherlands – Known for its biking culture, 58% of their commuters are cyclists or walkers.
- Frankfurt, Germany – Doing their bit for the environment, with 33% walking or cycling to work.
Cape Town and Johannesburg fall into the bottom 3 again in this category, accompanied by Tampa, Florida – where only 2% of the workforce cycle or walk to walk.
Plant-based diets
Going vegan has been an increasingly popular method of people doing their bit for the environment. The research explores where this is more achievable based on the number of restaurants offering vegan and vegetarian options for lunchtime snacks or an after-work dinner.
Top five vegan/vegetarian-friendly cities include:
City Number of vegan/ vegetarian options London, UK 3,709 New York, USA 1,542 Paris, France 1,429 Amsterdam, Netherlands 813 Sydney, Australia 670 *Table based on the top 5 locations. Data collected 10.03.2020. This looks at restaurants that cater to BOTH vegan and vegetarian lifestyles
Ian Wright, Founder of British Business Energy comments;
“Now more than ever it’s important to be conscious of our carbon footprints, and with many people on the same wavelength, it’s great to see London pioneering this movement for everyday workers”
“It sets a bar for countries worldwide and what we can be doing more of to keep our planet clean”.
To explore more of the best eco-friendly cities to work in, view the full research on British Business Energy here.
About BBE
British Business Energy aims to help small businesses to exponentially reduce their energy costs and to provide clear and unbiased information about the UK energy market. With British Business Energy you can compare electricity and gas prices to find the best option for your business, as well as also getting a quick and easy price comparison quote.
Methodology
An index has been created scoring the individual data points on a scale of 1-10. In all instances other than the % of people using a car for school/work, the higher the number, the better the score. For the % of people using a car for school/work, the lower the number the better the score. We have then weighted the scores, applying a lower importance to % of people using the train/metro for work, and an even lower weighting for the number of vegan/ vegetarian restaurants. All other metrics have been weighted equally.
Ouito and Kobe were removed from entire data set due to lack of data for the additional metrics.
Credit: https://britishbusinessenergy.co.uk/eco-cities/
