Go green in The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle expansion coming this June

The Sims 4 is getting a big new expansion pack, and it's all about going green. Eco Lifestyle drops on PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One on June 5, and it'll introduce you to a new neighborhood called Evergreen Harbor.

This brand new world lets you directly influence the environment in which you live, with every decision you make affecting it. You can produce your own electricity with alternative energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines, grow your own food with a vertical garden, or gather your own water with dew collectors. Your clothing and furniture can be up-cycled from reclaimed materials, or you can dumpster dive to find pre-used objects and repurpose them. You can't get much greener than that.

But wait, there's more. An eco-conscious community means an active community, and you can enact positive change through a Community Voting Board, which features weekly Neighborhood Action Plans. These plans will improve the quality of Evergreen Harbor, whether it's by installing eco-friendly objects around the town or implementing green initiatives. There's new careers available as well, including Civil Designer and Freelance Crafter (that last one is going to give me big-time crunchy yoga vibes, I love it).

This may be The Sims 4, but Eco Lifestyle is echoing the real world. If you choose to not take action while living in Evergreen Harbor, your environment will suffer: junk will pile up on your property and pollution levels will rise - just like what we're doing to our planet on a larger scale. But don't fret, as you can pick up trash, maintain your garden, and use eco-friendly building materials to help the muddy river waters clear up. If you keep your air pollution levels down, you may even see an aurora borealis. Doesn't this make you want to be nicer to the environment IRL?

The Eco Lifestyle pack would work very well with the Tiny Living Stuff Pack, even if the stress of building a tiny house in The Sims 4 nearly drove me mad.

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.