From a teen's perspective: Sustainability in the US
America is struggling right now. Many topics are being debated from kitchen tables all the way to Capitol Hill and they are getting increasingly heated. However, one of the most pressing topics is the rapid destruction of our planet caused by human action and not stopped because of human inaction. It is easy to feel discouraged due to this immense crisis with slow results, and the consequent inaction on the part of elected officials, large corporations, and even the everyday actions of those around us. I am not an exception; there are things I should be doing better to stop the crisis of our climate.
Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Europe, both big cities and small southern French towns. This was an amazing trip. Along with doing tourist activities, I was able to visit two of my friends. I met one of these friends through the Yale Young Global Scholars summer program in 2021, and we have kept up as penpals on Snapchat ever since. I finally got to meet up with her and her sister in person in Cardiff, Wales instead of through a Zoom screen. The second person I got to meet up with was our friend from Zurich, Switzerland who was an exchange student at my school this year. It was great to visit with these friends and discuss how much more sustainable Europe is than America, to which they readily agreed. During the trip, I kept a list of all of the things that I think America could be doing better in terms of sustainability with comments from my friends and my own observations. I will consolidate these points below:
Plastic waste
During my time in Europe, I was never once offered a plastic straw or spoon, and rarely a plastic water bottle. If I was given a water bottle, it was labeled as recyclable or made from recycled materials. In restaurants, you do not order water for yourself, but in a glass jar for the table, and then proceed to pour your own. If you order a soda, it comes in a glass bottle and you pour it into an individual glass cup. This was not just at particularly fancy restaurants, but practically every place where we ate. Even at Starbucks and McDonald’s we did not receive plastic straws nor any styrofoam. Napkins and ice cream cups were 100% recycled. American-based corporations even have zero plastic use in Europe, so why aren’t they taking these steps for the better development of our planet in America? With this, supermarkets had no plastic bags and you were expected to bring your own. All of these steps were the norm, and if America could make movements to more sustainable practices like these, we would be in a much better place.
Transportation
Once I stepped off of the plane, the world of transportation was completely different. Firstly, public transportation is amazing. Buses, trams and trains are amazing, reliable resources to get around a city without traffic and worrying about gas. We have taxis in large cities in America, but the taxis in London were much different. There the taxis are about the same size as what we are used to in America but the space is maximized. The inside of the taxi has three fold down seats facing forward and then three fold down seats facing backwards in the size of a normal taxi. This really helped my family a lot, as we now did not have to get two taxis, but instead could all fit in one. Space maximization is so important in the path to more sustainable living and the London taxis have this figured out very well.
The second way transportation is more sustainable in Europe is from the layout of the streets. The driving areas themselves were much smaller, and this in turn made for smaller cars. Besides the driving road, there was normally a bike lane and a very large sidewalk. This is another extremely important part of the movement to sustainability, as less carbon emissions are important, and if an area feels walkable or bikeable, there will be less carbon being released by cars.
Bathrooms
This may sound bizarre at first, but the bathrooms in Europe were so much more environmentally friendly than those in America. In certain restrooms, there was single-serve toilet paper so you could only get one piece at a time. Although that was a little surprising at first, it must save so much paper every day, thus creating less waste. Similarly, in many restrooms there was no option for paper towels after washing one’s hands, and instead you must use the hand dryer. This is also a small change, but also generates much less waste. Even the flushing was sustainable and used less water than in America.
This isn’t my full list of sustainable practices Europe engages in that America is lacking. There is a lot of room for improvement, but visiting Europe showed me one thing: it is possible. Corporations are capable of moving to these more sustainable practices, and we can be working to make these a reality in America. Although some of these practices in terms of public transportation aren’t feasible right now in a small town in North Carolina, one day they could be if everyone gets behind this important issue.
Right now, we can focus on individual sustainable practices like the lack of single-use plastics in our own lives and maybe just shaking our hands off after washing them instead of using a paper towel. These may seem like small changes at first, but if everyone takes a moment to reflect on more sustainable practices in their lives, then maybe we will be able to start compiling our small changes into many large ones.
