Learn how to improve each neighbourhood in Evergreen Harbor!

In The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle, the overall “goal” is to improve the polluted industrial town of Evergreen Harbor to become a green community. This Sims 4 eco footprint guide will show you exactly how to do that. There are numerous ways to go about doing this but the two main ways are through Neighbourhood Action Plans (NAPs for short) and your Sims 4 Eco Footprint. We’ll be showing you how to improve every neighbourhood in Evergreen Harbor in The Sims 4!

The Sims 4 Eco Footprint Guide: Make a Positive Impact!

Eco Footprint vs. Development: What’s the Difference?

In short, each neighbourhood in Evergreen Harbour has a development state and an eco footprint state. They are two separate states. For example, your neighbourhood could have a green eco footprint but no development or vice versa.

Your neighbourhood’s Sims 4 eco footprint refers to how clean the neighbourhood is. It’s shaped by the way you live your daily life in that neighborhood. However, there is an NAP that will boost the Eco Footprint of each neighbourhood as well as improve development.

Your neighbourhood’s development status refers to the visual look of the neighburhood. The condition of the roads, buildings, and other structures in the area. This is solely shaped through NAPs. You cannot improve your neighbourhood’s development by simply living a green lifestyle.

Below are examples of each neighbourhood in varying states:

Eco Footprint States

All worlds that have a Sims 4 Eco Footprint have the same three visual effects as pictured above to indicate its current state.

Development States

Each neighbourhood can have any combination of Sims 4 Eco Footprint state and Development state at the same time. You can opt to improve both, one, or neither.

Influencing the Eco Footprint in The Sims 4’s Evergreen Harbor

Each neighbourhood has its own Sims 4 Eco Footprint. This is not unique to Evergreen Harbor. All worlds (except StrangerVille, hidden worlds, and destination worlds) have an Eco Footprint that can be shaped by daily actions. All Sims living in that neighbourhood contribute to its eco footprint, so it’s not all up to your Sim; it’s a community effort.

Every neighbourhood has an Industrial, Neutral, or Green Eco Footprint. You can see where your neighbourhood’s Eco Footprint is at by hovering over this symbol at the bottom of your screen in Live Mode to bring up the gauge. In Manage Worlds, you can visually see each neighbourhood’s Sims 4 eco footprint. Industrial neighbourhoods will have a brown pollution visual effect over them. Green neighbourhoods will have a sparkly sun ray visual effect. Neutral neighbourhoods will not have any visual effects. You can also see more information on the eco footprint by clicking the Eco Footprint icon at the top of the screen.

Ways to Improve Eco Footprint in The Sims 4’s Evergreen Harbor

There are multiple ways to clean up an industrial neighbourhood and move the Sims 4 eco footprint towards being green.

• Enact the Green Initiatives NAP for your neighbourhood.
• Use Green building materials and objects when designing your house.
• Plant a large garden and landscape your yard with plenty of trees and foliage.
• Use dew collectors to collect rainwater instead of using town water.
• Use solar panels and wind turbines to generate green energy for your home.
• Power generators with bio fuel harvested from insect farms.
• Give eco-upgrades to your household plumbing and appliances to make them use less water/power or take them completely off the grid.
• Vote on the local community space project and turn it into a community garden.
• Avoid using objects with industrial footprints, such as fireplaces and generators that use gas instead of bio fuel.

If you are doing all of the above things in The Sims 4’s Evergreen Harbor and your neighbourhood’s Sims 4 Eco Footprint will not move to Green status, try going into your neighbour’s homes and making some of these changes there as well. It’s likely that your neighbours are not living a green lifestyle which is impacting your Sims 4 Eco Footprint.

There are benefits to having a green Sims 4 eco footprint. You will see the same sun ray effect in the world that you see on the map. Your Sims will also get powerful happy moodlets from living in a neighbourhood with clean air.

Sims who live in industrial neighbourhoods will have coughing spasms and uncomfortable moodlets from the pollution in the air. Industrial neighbourhoods will also have brown smog and hazy skies.

Influencing Neighbourhood Development in The Sims 4’s Evergreen Harbor

Each neighbourhood has its own development state. This is unique to Evergreen Harbor. No other worlds have alternate states of development. Development is solely influenced by NAPs. You can live as green as you want but you won’t see any changes to the local infrastructure unless you enact the right NAPs. This means you will have to work together with your neighbours to vote in the NAPs you want each week.

Development NAPs in Evergreen Harbor

There are two main NAPs for each neighbourhood that cause visible changes to the surrounding infrastructure.

• Green Initiatives in [Neighbourhood] – Each neighbourhood has its own version of this NAP. Enacting this NAP will update the visual look of the neighbourhood with more greenery. This neighbourhood slightly increases the bills for all Sims in that neighbourhood but it comes with the additional benefit of boosting your Eco Footprint, too. This NAP can be active at the same time as the Modern Development NAP.
• Modern Development in [Neighbourhood] – This NAP will update and modernize the local infrastructure. You can expect many changes depending on what neighbourhood you’re in. Roads, buildings, walkways, and more will all get appealing face lifts. This NAP will significantly increase the bills for all Sims in that neighbourhood but your Sims will also earn more money in their careers to offset the cost. This NAP can be active at the same time as the Green Initiatives NAP.

When one of the above NAPs is enacted in The Sims 4’s Evergreen Harbor, changes are not immediate. Every few days, you will see something in the neighbourhood change. After approximately one in-game week, the neighbourhood should be fully developed. Developing the neighbourhoods is a gradual process but very rewarding when you see your Sims make a visible difference in their hometown.

You can really customize the look of your neighbourhoods in Evergreen Harbor by using the development NAPs and green initiatives together!

Want more guides, tips, and tricks for Eco Lifestyle? We’ve got you covered!