After three months in Europe, I can confidently say that the European lifestyle is going to leave a far smaller ecological footprint than that of America. There is a clear effort amongst the majority of Europeans to make their countries greener, even if it is just by small daily efforts like riding a bike to work or school or using specific different trash bags to dispose of each type of trash and bottle. A huge part of this, I believe, is because Europeans live in much smaller quarters than Americans tend to. Every single place we have traveled to has taken a little bit of getting used to as far as lifestyle goes. I do kind of prefer it though. Putting yourself in new situations really makes you aware of your everyday habits and how much of a difference your own small life makes. Little things like hanging your clothes to dry instead of using huge amounts of energy to dry them in a machine saves so much power, even if it is a little more time consuming. The time spent now making little changes will end up in time saved in the long run.
Saving energy at home by hanging my clothes instead of machine drying
My house back home was not big compared to a lot of houses in America, but compared to the places we have stayed in Europe, it could be considered rather “luxurious.” America and Australia actually have the biggest average house size at 204 m2 and 214 m2. France is behind them at 112 m2 and Italy is even smaller at 81 m2 ( http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house). Granted we did spend a lot of time in youth hostels and on peoples’ free and open couches, but even so the accommodations were always more “earth happy” as I like to say. In our first couch surfing home, he only used lamps, and only turned them on when it was absolutely necessary and there was no light left from the sky. Hostel showers were an interesting example to say the least. The experiences were not bad, they were just very different. It also made a difference whether you were staying in a private room, and room of 4-6 people, or a 20 person room that used the communal bathrooms down the hall. Each had their own types of showers, but they all cut you off after no more than a minute. Water conservation is clearly an important part of people’s lives in Europe because no matter where you go, you never get quite enough hot water to successfully wash twelve inches of ridiculously thick hair. It has happened on several occasions where I have had to take a shower break and let the hot water rejuvenate. C’est la vie. The hostel that we spent the most time in was in Galway, Ireland. The showers there were basically a bathroom stall with a button that gave you 30 seconds of lukewarm water. Even though this whole process was a bit more difficult and took more effort, it saved so much water. Back home I never really thought about how much water was wasted while actually applying shampoo or conditioner, but after using showers like this, I realized how much of a difference it actually makes. Even the toilets use less water. In general, America actually uses a ton of water now that I think of it. To be fair though, people do not drink as much water in Europe as we do in America and when they do it’s usually bottled and carbonated. Europe actually ranks second in plastic production ( http://www.plastval.pt/conteudos/File/Publicacoes/Plastics%20-%20the%20Facts%202014.pdf). My first awkward experience with French water conservation was actually the first day in my host home. I thought I would be helpful and start doing the dishes after an appropriately awkward first dinner with the whole family, so after dinner I got up and started hand washing the plates. I did not even think twice and went ahead and turned on the water at an (apparently) too strong level and my host dad bee lined toward and immediately shut off the faucet and said “no s’il tu plaît” and walked away. I learned my lesson very quickly. After talking to a few other people in homestays, I found out that I was not the only one who had awkward learning experiences when it came to water usage. Showering was also a problem people had. Most of us are used to taking our time in the shower, but that is not how it is done here. Showers here are supposed to be in and out within 8-10 minutes so when we began by taking our typical “American” showers, aka longer than 10 minutes, some of the host families were not so happy. The more you know.
Europe is also pretty good at sustainable energy. As I am currently passing through Belgium, there has been a steady stream of windmills along the highways.
Wind turbines lining the highways of Belgium (I can’t get the picture to turn)
Wind turbines lining the highways of Belgium (I can’t get the picture to turn)
According to the WWF Living Planet Report, Denmark actually started the wind energy movement with a man who actually started it secretly. Now, “wind power development in Denmark has been led by civil society, with individuals and families taking up financial incentives to buy wind turbines or shares in cooperatives to invest in wind power in their communities” (126). They are doing pretty well as far as wind energy goes, but then there is the issue of agriculture and cows. First of all, the second we crossed the border into Belgium and got off of the bus for a bathroom/snack break, it smelled like we stepped into a field of cow manure. France is known for its agricultural contribution to its ecological footprint, so I am sure it smelled like cross before we got into Belgium, we just happened to have the great pleasure of smelling it when we got off in Belgium. Cow waste produces an enormous amount of methane which is actually much more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide, so the number of cows throughout Europe is really hurting the environment. France itself has increased its methane production by 1.06% just from 2008 to 2010 (http://knoema.com/atlas/France/topics/Environment/Emissions/Methane-emissions-kt). That is a big jump in just two years. Since then it has been steadily increasing. The United States is not necessarily better about this though. Methane is the second most produced gas in the United States and a lot of it comes from landfills and their runoff into water sources (http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html).
This is an issue across the entire globe. Overconsumption of meat is causing the producers of meat to force feed animals like cows and goats in order to produce enough to keep up with the demand. This is often times done by feeding the animals unhealthy corns and grains which causes them to grow in size but also produce more waste, which means more methane. The Living Planet Report suggests the solution of consuming more intelligently. For example, Ghent, a city in Belgium, participates in one day a week of no meat consumption (129). I think Texas would probably end up actually seceding if the U.S. made this a law. One way France deals with overconsumption is through the law preventing food waste. Restaurants can’t legally throw away food. From what I have gathered, French people generally know this rule, so at restaurants where American people would typically order a big meal and take the rest home for another time, French people order exactly how much they will eat at that specific time and do not even have the option to ask for take out boxes.
To finish the semester, our last stop is Amsterdam before meeting up with my family in Barcelona for Christmas. As soon as you get off the bus at the main station, all you see is a sea of bikes. I have always heard that Amsterdam is the most bike friendly place in the world, but seeing it makes it even more real. It is 49 degrees and rainy, but that does not stop all of the locals from hoping on their bikes. The bike lanes here are so safe. Instead of incorporating them with the main streets, there is an entire separate bike road next to the sidewalks. Amsterdam has a total of 400 km of bike lanes ( http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/plan-your-trip/getting-around/cycling/cycling-safely) and I can now confirm that people really do use all 400 of those. Amsterdam also has a total of 250,000 bicycle parking spots and they hope to increase that by 38,000 by 2020 ( http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/media-centre/city-hall/dossier-cycling/cycling-faq).
Town center… SO many bikes!
More bikes lining the canals of Amsterdam
When the people in Amsterdam are not on their bikes, they take their rechargeable cars instead. There are parking spots along the streets that have chargers for the electric cars, which is really cool because in the United States, I have only seen this available in maybe two little spots in the back of a parking garage, and who wants to go out of their way to find one of those?
Conveniently placed electric car charger on the side of the street
Amsterdam is filled with canals, so climate change is a real threat to the city structure. If the world keeps heating up, which according to ya know, science, it will, and land ice melts, then the water will cause problems for buildings sitting on it because water levels will rise and flood them.
Buildings sitting right on the canals in Amsterdam
Overall, I have found Europe to be extremely progressive. They make a lot of good attempts at being environmentally friendly, but like everyone on the planet, it could always be better. The planet has a long way to go before being completely green and “earth happy,” but we are on the right track (in a lot of aspects).
http://www.plastval.pt/conteudos/File/Publicacoes/Plastics%20-%20the%20Facts%202014.pdf
http://knoema.com/atlas/France/topics/Environment/Emissions/Methane-emissions-kt
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/plan-your-trip/getting-around/cycling/cycling-safely
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/media-centre/city-hall/dossier-cycling/cycling-faq