Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... a lot.

At my apartment building, it is a lot easier to find recycle bins than to find trashcans. We have one trash shoot for our entire building, but about 6 recycle bins (and even a recycle container solely for batteries!) This just goes to show that the Danish are really intense about their trash and recycling efforts. 

However, even the Danes can't be perfect all the time. People still do create trash, and that trash has to go somewhere. In Denmark, all trash goes to a factory that burns it up. However, instead of releasing toxins into the air, the fumes are put into an energy system to heat all the buildings in the winter. Fascinating! Not only do they not have landfills everywhere, but their electricity bills are significantly lower because they're using a system that does just that... reduces waste, reuses trash, and recycles energy. 

Also, 40% of the people in Copenhagen bike to work... in dresses, suits, and all other sorts of attire. Every single street has a bike lane, and it is often more crowded than the actual streets. Since they bike everyone, the Danes are just high on life... and endorphins. No wonder that even on a beautiful summer day like yesterday (where it was a high of 63 degrees F with extreme winds and rain showers- and that's just August) they're still the happiest people in the world!

Initial Findings

On the plane, the flight attendants did try to separate plastic and paper cups from trash during cleanup. However, I've also seen that done on American flights, so that was nothing too innovative. I did not see an recycling of wine bottles, soda cans, etc, but who knows what they do with all that stuff when they are done clearing. I guess when you have 400 passengers on a red eye flight, the last think people are worrying about is the environment (best excuse if I've ever heard one). 

Once arriving to my dorm, I found that my bathroom toilet has two different buttons. I assume it's for the difference in water power (one high and one low). However, neither are marked so naturally I've tried both over the last 36 hours... haven't noticed a difference yet but that's probably something I should look into. I have seen toilets like that in America, although VERY sporadically. After 36 hours of being in Denmark, I just realized that I haven't used a public bathroom yet, so I don't know if all toilets have two flush buttons, or just in my apartment building. I'll keep you posted on that...

The city is VERY clean. No trash on the streets anywhere. Even the smokers are pretty good about not throwing their cigarettes on the ground. 

I don't know if this is the most environmentally friendly way of doing things, but I sure do enjoy it- My bathroom floor is heated! It is wonderful when getting out of the shower (which is just a shower head spraying onto the floor of the bathroom- like on a small boat) or when coming in from the rain (and yes, there is a LOT of it).

It's 2am here. More later...

Shop Til You Drop

I have yet to arrive in Denmark (or even finish packing!) and have already found that in Denmark, you either bring your own bags to the grocery store, or you pay. From my Pre-Arrival Information, I was informed that everyone uses reusable shopping bags. If you do not, you are charged for every plastic or paper bag that you use. What a simple concept! 

Americans use over 100 Billion Plastic Bags per year, 98% of which are thrown away after the first use. Stores give away these bags like Halloween candy! In the money driven country that we live in, Supermarkets would be very wise to sell plastic bags, as it would increase their profits AND encourage customers to carry reusable shopping bags. This would show that companies were taking an environmental initiative, benefiting the world and themselves all at one time. 

Yes, that would require some thinking on the customer's part to carry the bags with them. However, people never seem to forget their coupons when going shopping. Americans need to just get in the mindset that reusable shopping bags are environmentally-friendly coupon. 

In fact, all stores should implement this. There's no reason that people can't use reusable shopping bags for all their wants and needs. I understand that people take pride in  wearing brand names and there is a distinct satisfaction about carrying a certain store's bag around the mall. However, hopefully Americans aren't THAT materialistic to kill the environment for that short walk- when there's such a simple alternative.

How It All Began...

It all started when a friend of mine stated, "It's actually cheaper to throw stuff away than to recycle." This comment bubbled inside me as my frustration with the ignorance of Americans grew. Americans tend to not realize the environmental implications that go beyond taking out the trash. Believe it or not, when the garbage men drive away, the trash they take with them doesn't just disappear. Here are the current options for American disposal methods. 

The most common solution is landfills. What people need to realize is that 1. we've run out of room in our landfills and 2. all our trash just sitting is killing the environment as well. Animals eat plastics and paper, which kills them. All the trash keeps plants from growing, which inhibits oxygen from being produced, which in turn raises the carbon dioxide levels around the world. 

Another method of trash disposal is dumping into the ocean. Now let's think about this for a minute: seafood is some of the most expensive food on the market. Simple economics will tell you that as availability decreases, price increase. In the current state of the economy, mixed with the gravitation for Americans to eat healthier, why would we self-create a situation where we have to shell out (no pun intended) more money because we're ruining the aquatic environment  and therefore decreasing availability of fish?


The final way that garbage is disposed of often is by incarceration. When burning plastics, glass, metals, and cardboard, cancer-causing toxins are released into the air for people to breathe in. You tell me what is cheaper- recycling something or hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills and an early death? Yeah, that's what I thought. 


Now that I've completely undermined the way the entire United States Waste Management system is set up, let me make a couple things clear. First of all, I do not blame the government or the American people for the environmental issues we currently face. When this system was set up, no one was yet knowledgeable of the harmful affects trash has on the environment. Everyone is just doing what they know. Secondly, I am not a person to complain without coming up with solutions. Complaining only hurts people's ears, solutions can save people's lives. Now that we are very knowledgeable of environmental issues, it's time we take charge. It's time to stop thinking about America's today and to start thinking about how small changes truly can make a big difference. 


This blog is going to track my journey through Copenhagen, Denmark, rated one of the Greenest city in the world. I will talk about all my findings, and how being environmentally friendly has a huge impact on the happiness of the Danish people (rated the happiest people in the world). 


And thus the journey begins...