Living in the Eco-city

Hello!

So nice of you to ask about how we live here in Eco-city! I think I will just tell you about an ordinary day here, you can always get hard facts later if there is something you find extra interesting.

But first some short words about how I got here. I was born in this city, many years ago, raised elsewhere and returned to the city in the 1980-ies. Then the city was an industrial center on its way down. The wharf that had been booming the decades before had to lay off more and more people. I remember the city then, not in colours, but in different shades of grey. And the smell of the city was so different from today. Then the streets smelled of gasoline. You could even sometimes see tiny oil spills from cars in the water puddles. I have to admit that the shimmering oil in the water was beautiful.

But I should tell you about how life is here now. I still live in the same apartment as the last time you visited. Some improvements has been made to the building though. We have had new washing mashines installed in the laundry room. They wash with de-ionized water so no washing powder is needed. And it works, the clothes get clean. Another big change is that we have had solar panels installed in the roof.

Today I have had a busy day. To get by I have to work only about 30 hours a week. But in my days off, like today, there are always a lot of things to take care of. I started off with leaving the trash to to recycling. Now we separate it into a lot of fractions, food waste, plastic, glass (coloured and uncoloured), card board, metal, paper, batteries and light bulbs. And then there is also the bin for the things that don't fit in any of the fractions. One thing that I love about leaving the trash is that we have some shelves in the garbage room where you can put things you don't want anymore, but that someone else might have use for. It is like a treasure hunt every time I go there!

It was beautiful weather this morning so I decided to get some fresh air when I did my errands. When I leave the house I can hear the noice from the building site outside. The city is building a railway station on the tracks that goes past the house. Can you imagine the luxury? It will take two minutes from my door to the station! It will be finished at the end of the year. Then I can take the train to one of the shopping malls in the city. Not that I like to shop that much, but the mall lies close to the water and has a green roof with a great wiev. And in the summer they have Zumba classes on the roof!

My first stop is at the book swop shop. I have two books with me that I finished earlier this week. I leave the two books at the counter and find two other books instead. If any of them is so good that I want to keep it I just do that. One thing that also makes this a very nice place is that most of the staff are disabled persons.

My next stop is at small shopping mall with only local shops (the ice cream shop is amazing!). Today i was picking up locally grown food that is delivered there once a week. You have to preorder online so the farmers know how much to harvest and bring that day. Today I got some vegetables and a jar of city honey. As usual I had been a bit optimistic about my ability to carry all, so I had to go and lend one of the city bikes. They are also new, all over the city there are parking places for city bikes and when you need a bike you just draw your card and borrow a bike. And then you return it at the closest parking to your destination. And it is really cheap, to use them for a whole year costs like going to the movies twice.

Oh, this letter is getting long so I better finish it now. I can tell you more in the next one!

Take care!

The best part of this story comes now. This is my life! And my city, Malmö in southern Sweden. The solar panels and the washing mashines are still in the planning stadium, all the other things already are in place.