Sustainable Initiatives in Paris
Ambitious environmental initiatives are making the French capital cleaner and greener than ever. Visitors to Paris today will encounter riverbank parks reclaimed from expressways, new gardens, vegetated rooftops, and living walls. Moreover, there are fewer cars, more cycling paths, and eco-friendly public transport options, including sleek, silent Eiffel Tower wind turbines partially powering its operations. This transformation extends to hotels and restaurants that actively utilize sustainable products and local produce.
The landmark Paris Agreement was negotiated in the city at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in 2015, with heads of state agreeing to limit global warming to less than 2°C by the end of the century.
Leading by Example
Paris itself is setting a remarkable example: reforms to reduce car usage have included pedestrianizing the av des Champs-Élysées on the first Sunday of each month and establishing an annual car-free day each autumn. In 2017, the city introduced the Crit’Air Vignette (a compulsory anti-pollution sticker) for vehicles registered after 1997 between 8 am and 8 pm from Monday to Friday, during which older vehicles are banned altogether. Consequently, these measures had an immediate impact: the city recorded a 6.05% drop in cars during the first six months of 2018.
Parks, Gardens, and Public Spaces
Ground-breaking green spaces in recent decades have included Parc André Citroën, located on the site of a former Citroën car manufacturing plant. The park’s aerial sightseeing balloon, Ballon de Paris, monitors air quality, changing color accordingly. Another notable green space is the Promenade Plantée, the world’s first-ever elevated park, situated atop a disused railway viaduct, and which has inspired New York’s High Line.
Murs végétaux (vertical ‘living wall’ gardens) are enhancing the exteriors of buildings such as the Musée du Quai Branly. Another stunning example is L’Oasis d’Aboukir, aka Hymne à la Biodiversité (Ode to Biodiversity), which features some 7600 plants from 237 different species growing on a 25m-high facade in the 2e arrondissement.
The riverside Paris Plages (‘Paris Beaches’), initiated along the Seine each summer since 2002 to provide respite from the heat, paved the way for the Parc Rives de Seine along Paris’ UNESCO World Heritage–listed riverbanks, replacing traffic-choked expressways on the Left Bank in 2013 and extending 2.3km. Moreover, the Right Bank was completed in 2017, extending 3.3km with year-round recreational spaces. New parks, such as Jardin Truillot, a 5600-square-meter green walkway that opened in 2018, now link bd Richard-Lenoir with the twin-spired Église St-Ambroise.
Getting Active
Paris Plages now feature summer swimming pools in the Bassin de la Villette in the 19e, following a significant clean-up of Paris’ canals. Although swimming is currently restricted in the Seine (including during Paris Plages), the City of Paris has plans to enhance water quality, allowing for open-water swimming and triathlon events during Paris’s hosting of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The city is investing €150 million in cycling infrastructure, aiming to double the previous amount of bike lanes to 1400km by 2020, including an av des Champs-Élysées cycling lane. An additional 10,000 bicycle parking spaces are also being created, while Paris’ shared bicycle scheme, Vélib’, aims to make 30% of its bikes electric. Its shared scooter scheme, Cityscoot, employs zero-emission electric scooters.
Sustainable Accommodation Options
An increasing number of Parisian hotels are actively reducing water and energy consumption while ramping up recycling efforts. Look for establishments that have signed the tourist office’s Charter for Sustainable Accommodation in Paris. Other credentials to consider are Green Key, European Ecolabels, as well as Green Globe, EarthCheck, and ISO 14001 certifications.
Budget travelers should take note of Solar Hôtel in the 14e near place Denfert-Rochereau. With its namesake solar panels powering the lights on the facade, it incorporates recycled materials and solvent-free paints, utilizes rainwater collection to water its garden, offers free bike hire, and promotes the use of all-organic cleaning products. Furthermore, its breakfast is 100% organic.
Just off the av des Champs-Élysées in the 17e, the boutique Hidden Hotel features natural pigments on the walls, coconut-fiber mattresses, organic toiletries, and filtered water, alongside organic breakfasts. Online deals often reveal great midrange bargains.
Also located in the 17e, 800m north of the Arc de Triomphe, high-end Hôtel Regent’s Garden opens to a 400 sq m garden, growing produce for the restaurant. Its green policy includes low-consumption lighting, taps fitted with aerators to reduce water flow, and air conditioning sensors; beds come with wool mattresses and hypoallergenic pillows crafted from natural wood fibers.
Eco Eating in Paris
Paris’ colorful street markets, such as Marché Bastille (Thursdays and Sundays), showcase fresh local produce. The city also boasts three markets that are entirely biologique (organic): Marché Biologique des Batignolles and Marché Brancusi (both on Saturdays) and Marché Raspail (Sundays).
Occupying a repurposed station of the Petite Ceinture – the abandoned steam train line once encircling Paris – La Recyclerie in the 18e, features an urban farm along the railway tracks that produces food for its bohemian cafe. This includes eggs from its chickens, vegetables and herbs from its garden, and honey from its rooftop beehives.
Stylish Café Pinson, located in the fashion hub of the Haut Marais, uses locally sourced, organic vegetables for its meat-free and vegan dishes, along with freshly squeezed juices.
Michelin-starred Septime in the 11e works with urban farm produce and ingredients grown on its farm near Paris. Additionally, it offers natural wines from its vineyard, with approximately 80% of its menu being vegetable-based; meat is sourced nose-to-tail, and line-caught fish comes from boats under 12m long. For sustainable seafood, visit its sister restaurant, Clamato, next door. You can also try Septime’s wines at its vibrant bar Septime La Cave, conveniently located around the corner.
Looking Ahead
Ongoing projects to combat pollution include establishing a city-wide maximum speed limit of 30km/h (except along major arteries) by 2020, banning diesel cars by 2024, and petrol cars by 2030. Moreover, the plan includes reducing parking spaces by 55,000 each year. Paris’ ultra-efficient public transport system is also on the rise: by 2025, all buses will be electric or run on biogas with zero emissions.
Green walkways and gardens will connect two of Paris’ busiest mainline stations – Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est – starting in 2019. A pedestrian peninsula linking place de la Bastille with the Port de l’Arsenal marina is also scheduled to open in 2019. Other central squares, including place de l’Opéra, in front of the opulent Palais Garnier opera house, are in the process of becoming more pedestrian-friendly.
By 2020, Paris plans to have 100 hectares of green roofs, facades, and walls, with a third devoted to urban agriculture. Also by 2020, all public lighting in la Ville Lumière (the City of Light) will be powered entirely by renewable energy sources.
