While cars are typically faster than public transit, I must say it is nice to have the ability to get anywhere in Europe without needing one. Traveling to Italy and then Switzerland would have been impossible (on a budget) without the convenience of trains from any direction. Blablacar is another really great way to save money and carbon emissions. Although it is still the use of a car, it is at least reducing the number of cars used by combining efforts and traveling together. Traveling by train is typically seen as the greener option of the two when choosing between train or car. While trains are typically the better option, you must take into consideration the other factors. Things like what type of fuel is being used and distance traveled is an important part that often gets mixed up with the assumption that train are “totally green.” If the train uses diesel, its better to just travel by electric car. I have noticed that it is rather rare for young people to have cars here. It costs a lot to get your license, and you can’t get it until you are 18. In Angers, you are required to have a sticker with a red “A” on it on your car for the first two years of owning it. For young people, it tends to be easier to just bike, walk, take public transit, or hitch a ride with your parents.
Traveling in Europe is so convenient. The fact that we can jump on a train in Paris and be in Italy within about 7 hours is amazing. If that is not great enough, this way of traveling also allows you to see a lot more of the country that you probably would not have been able to see otherwise.
Train to Italy
Train to Italy
Train to Switzerland
Italy did not seem to make many big attempts at being environmentally friendly. We spent one night in Milan, and for the most part, it was just very urban and crowded. We chose to move on to Bellagio, a little town around Lake Como, where we spent a lot of time outside. That is one thing I really enjoy about Europe; there are always options to do outdoors things (as long as the weather is decent). While Bellagio had plenty of options for retired vacationers, there were also hiking trails all around. To get to the trail we took, we had to go through a little village that only allowed pedestrians. Cars were not even permitted on the streets. The roads in Italy, at least in the small towns, are extremely small. This does not really allow for really big cars. Even the bus from Como to Bellagio had a hard time fitting through the little streets. Because of this, the cars seem to be much smaller and more gas efficient. Gas stations are not as common here as they are in the states where there are typically gas stations every two centimeters… While the European countries are still pretty high up on the carbon emission list, they still produce 40% less than the United States. Europe’s attempt to decrease it’s CO2 emissions is showing seeing as though the emissions are constantly decreasing at a steady pace, although they are not down enough quite yet. The EU has laws being put into place regarding new cars and their carbon emissions. The law requires all new cars that will be registered in the EU cannot have emissions over 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer (http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/cars/index_en.htm).
While the areas of Italy that we visited did not seem to act too much on environmentally friendly options, Switzerland was rather proactive and progressive about it. The train system did not vary much since the train we took into Zurich was an Italian line. Zurich itself has two parts to it: the modern, business side of Zurich and Old Town. The Swiss way of disposing of trash is very specific and strict. There are two different options when disposing of your waste. They use these bags called “Zurisacks.” We stayed with a friend who showed us the lifestyle of a local so that was really cool. When disposing of your trash, you must use these specific “Zurisacks.” They are a little pricey, but that is because you have to pay the taxes that pay for extensive trash sorting. Basically if you are not a big business with a license, you do not even have the option to use regular trash bags. The trash sorters will go through all not properly sorted trash and look for any type of identification they can find, and if you are identified then you will be fined some huge amount. People in Zurich (and I assume the rest of Switzerland as well) take waste very seriously. We asked our friend if people ignore the trash rules like people tend to in the United States and he looked at us like we were crazy because nobody disrespects waste laws there. The city is generally really clean and VERY beautiful.
Zurich Old Town
We spent the last day of our trip in the Swiss Alps. The pride that the Swiss have in their mountains is incredible. The forests throughout the Alps and the rest of Switzerland can be either public or private. The forests used to be protected for commercial timber, but because the lush forests are what protects from highly dangerous avalanches, that has been changing and people work harder at protecting the areas around them (http://www.perc.org/articles/protecting-forests-swiss-alps). The trails are spotless and there are designated areas specifically for making fires, which they call “grillplatz.” There are little fire areas made out of rocks that you have to walk down a separate trail to get to. Although the creation of fire is one of the things we have talked about that does not exactly combat climate change, I guess it is a little better than carrying around food with a lot of wrappers that will then probably go into a landfill. It is truly amazing how much of a difference a little time in nature can make. After traveling for a few days, a relaxing (yet extremely challenging) day spent climbing Mount Pilatus was just what we needed.
On our way up the mountain
Designated fire area
Making sausages on the side of the Alps
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/cars/index_en.html
http://www.englishforum.ch/daily-life/197248-waste-disposal-recycling-zurich-2014-comprehensive-overview.html