Emerald Cities
In recent years, the environmental movement has progressed from an almost marginal pursuit to becoming a cause celèbre. Now, the capital cities of Latin America and Europe offer you the chance to be an eco-tourist, enjoying two-wheeled transportation options and restaurants, stores and hotels that concern themselves with the preservation of the planet.
text Aaron Dalton & Alejandra Rodríguez
Latin America
Bogotá
This shining example is striving to be named the most sustainable city on the continent and to this end, the city features 75 miles of interconnected bike paths (open on Sundays and holidays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.), 1,200 parks and gardens and even an annual “car-free” day. There are also a number of restaurants that specialize in organic ingredients, including Bio Plaza, a biodynamic and organic shop/café, which is a pioneer in chemical-free foods.
Bio Plaza, Transversal 17 No. 98-13
www.bioplaza.org
Buenos Aires
 To start the day with a healthy breakfast or for a lunch break, you can’t go wrong with the organic market Natural Deli, with locations in Barrio Norte and Las Cañitas. They sell everything from beer and wine to ecological jams and oils.
www.natural-deli.com
The eco-friendly trend inspired the design hotel Soho All Suites to use proportioning technology and “green” products for low energy and water consumption. This smoke-free hotel also encourages guests to help protect the environment.
www.sohoallsuites.com.ar
If you’re going shopping, the bag created by young Pía Numer is an ingenious and practical alternative to polluting plastic bags.
www.bolsademandados.blogspot.com
Lima
The storeMadre Natura is the place to buy ecologically friendly products including clothing, organic soy-based candles, incense made with native resins and delicious, homemade bread.
Av. Chiclayo 815, Miraflores
In San Borja, on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, the Punto justo y sano fair offers a wide variety of organic products, from natural cosmetics and food to folk art.
Av. Aviación, cuadra 36
Bike Tours of Lima invites you to pedal through the Peruvian capital, visiting the historic downtown, the neighborhood of Barranco and the city by night. They also rent bikes to customers who prefer to explore without a guide.
www.biketoursoflima.com
Mexico City
 Located in the culinary district of Polanco, EcoBistrot is well worth a visit if you’re looking to sample dishes made with brown rice, organic vegetables and chicken, Chilean wines from agrochemical-free vineyards and beers from German and Belgian abbeys.
www.ecobistrot.com
For designer clothing made using sustainable practices, check out La Fábrica Social in Colonia Condesa. The handmade clothing and accessories are all crafted with respect for the environment and a commitment to fair trade, like the innovative creations from designer Ignacio Mejía, made with certified organic cotton.
www.fabricasocial.org
Santiago de Chile
The Falabelladepartment store (in its location at Manquehue and Apoquindo in Las Condes) offers a green experience with air conditioning that doesn’t harm the ozone layer, a store interior protected from dust and bacteria, a 50 percent reduction in annual water consumption, a 20 percent reduction in electricity use and reusable shopping bags.
www.falabella.com
 Small and simple, but completely pro-environment, La Chakra is a restaurant /store on a peaceful Las Condes street. The menu offers organic fare, and the store sells everything from vegetables to clothing and cosmetics (all eco-friendly, of course).
www.lachakra.cl
Reciclart: Artist Consuelo Riedel designs purses, bags, backpacks, carpets, hassocks and other items made with by-products from the textile industry. These lovely and unique items are sold in Carmín, a store in the Drugstore shopping center in Providencia.
www.reciclart.cl
A trek up the hilltop of Cerro San Cristóbal to enjoy a spectacular view of the valley in which Santiago sprawls is just one of the tours offered by Paseos en Bicicleta, a new tourist option in the Chilean capital. Getting to the top of the hill is quite tough, but there’s also a tour of the historic downtown (including a picnic) that is much easier and a lot of fun.
www.paseosenbicicleta.cl
Europe
Paris
Why endure the overcrowded Paris metro when you can enjoy fresh air, get exercise and have a blast biking through the City of Lights? With its Vélib program, Paris is a pioneer in bike sharing as a means of transportation. Using a debit card, you can rent a bike at any of the hundreds of stations throughout the city and then return it at another. The first 30 minutes of the rental are free, so pedal fast!
www.en.velib.paris.fr
Where to go on your bicyclette? How about Du Pain et Des Idées, where baker Christophe Vasseur uses organic flour to make his famous breads? Or maybe one of the more remote locations of organic food market chains like Naturalia or Biocoop, which have sprung up in abundance around Paris?
www.dupainetdesidees.com
www.naturalia.fr
www.biocoop.fr
Enjoy a refreshing drink at Phyto Bar, which claims to be the first organic bar in town. You can try freshly squeezed fruit juice, one of 20 different kinds of bio-tea or choose from a variety of wines.
47 Boulevard Saint-Germain
Tel. 33-1-4407-3699
 Tired of pedaling? Let a Citybird driver take you aboard an electric scooter taxi that doesn’t harm the environment.
www.city-bird.com/_electricity/index.php
Gavarni is a boutique hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower. The rooms are cleaned using eco-friendly, biodegradable products, and a portion of the hotel’s profits is donated to Good Planet, a foundation that promotes sustainable development and the prevention of global warming.
www.gavarni.com
www.goodplanet.org
Madrid
Lovers of eco-cuisine can find plenty of places to sate their appetites in Spain’s capital. Ecocentro combines an herb garden, a bookstore and an organic market with a vegetarian restaurant that serves organic wine and beer. Other options include the organic market and vegetarian buffet of Viva la Vida or The Organic Shop, located on Calle Infantas 30 in the neighborhood of Chueca.
www.ecocentro.es
www.vivalavida.vg
For a healthy and “green” tour of the city stop in at By Bike and rent a bicycle equipped with GPS that will guide you along a predetermined route, with audio commentary in the language of your choice.
www.bybike.info
Another appealing option is the ËcoBar&Spa, where everything is organic and natural, from the body products to the whisky.
www.ecobarspa.com
Brussels
Cyclocity, a bike-share program in the Belgian capital, invites you to explore the city and its environs along the Promenade Verte, which extends for nearly 40 miles of parks and nature reserves.
www.cyclocity.be
If you’re looking for an eco-friendly souvenir, pick up something stylish among the organic clothing and vegetable-oil-dyed shoes at Natural Selection. If you want a souvenir for the family, check out the irresistible “Friends of the Environment” toys and the delightful garments of Petit Baobab.
www.natural-selection-clothing.be
www.petitbaobab.be
Prague
Enjoy the comfort of an apartment at MaMaison Residence Belgicka, one of four EU-certified ecological hotels in the Czech Republic.
www.mamaison.com/prague/residence-belgicka-prague
Vienna
When it comes to shopping, you can find some real treasures at Gabarage Upcycling Design, a studio that promotes sustainable development by transforming waste into stunning and practical household furniture. And why not pick up some natural and organic cosmetics at Saint Charles Cosmothecary?
http://gabarage.at
www.saint.info
Wherever you find yourself at mealtime, you’re likely to find local and organic fare. Vienna’s farmers cultivate approximately 16 percent of the city’s total surface area and produce 50,000 tons of vegetables a year. The municipality itself farms one of the largest organic crops in Austria.
Parks and gardens make up nearly half of Vienna. It’s worth your while to get to know the city using the Citybike Wien bike-share system and the nearly 700 miles of special bike paths. And if you use your rental for under an hour, it’s free!
www.citybikewien.at
London
 Environmentally conscious restaurants that serve local fare include Bumpkin, with its “funky country” style, Water House, which runs on solar energy, and the Duke of Cambridge organic gastropub.
www.bumpkinuk.com
www.waterhouserestaurant.co.uk
www.dukeorganic.co.uk
Take to the city by bike with London Cycles Guides, free from the London transport authority (the guides, not the bikes) and available at tube stations around the city. Learn how to board public transportation systems with a bike at their Website. Not up to pedaling? The Climatecars company offers taxi service in Toyota hybrid cars.
www.tfl.gov.uk/cycling
www.climatecars.com
Berlin
Treat yourself to a relaxing stay at Hotel 26, where all the rooms are smoke-free and antiallergenic: the tap water passes through a special filter, and the soap is made with pure vegetable products, free from chemical additives.
www.hotel26-berlin.de
If you’re hungry, dig in to local, natural, organic food at the mitArt Hotel + Café, where you can also learn about projects like Europe’s first ecological city or the conversion of Berlin’s old Tempehof Airport into a solar energy research center.
www.mitart.de
Berlin has already built some 50 miles of bike paths on its streets and over 30 miles of bike paths on the sidewalks. These new routes are used by some 400,000 cyclists a day, according to a 2007 report by the Berlin Development Association. To join the crowd, simply sign up for a Fat Tire Bike Tour.
http://fattirebiketours.com/berlin
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