Europeans on average use ½ of the energy what us gluttonous Americans use. Most of this is due to most living near town centers, in apartments, with small cars and within walking distance of shopping centers. We developed our country around internal combustion engines, not the donkey cart and our own two feet. And because “going West” is so ingrained in our mentality as is our love for massive box stores (cheaper is always better!), we consume more, have bigger houses, fill our house with appliances, and drive around vehicles that are twice the size of delivery vans in Europe. So besides all the barriers in our culture against wanting to conserve, I believe most people don’t want to melt the last Arctic ice. So here’s some tips from our European ancestors, that you can incorporate into your life to conserve more CO2.
-Line dry your laundry. Driers are so rare on this continent. Even in moist Ireland, I’ve only seen one drier, and most people think of it as an excess no one needs. People line dry clothes from apartment windows, or have a handy rack to place near the heater on a wet day. Me, I haven’t used a drier at all since I’ve been in Ireland, and I usually have to dance a bit to get them dry in a couple days, but it really is no bother once you get used to it.
-Switches on the sockets- Up to 20% of US electricity is lost because electronics are kept plugged in (TV, VCR, Computers) as drain electricity even when they are turned off. Why not have a switch on the socket to turn off the electricity, and then you don’t have to worry about your two year old sticking their finger in it either.
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Small Fridges- In Ireland I’m sharing a fridge 1/3 of the size of most US fridges with 4 people. Not only are your forced to eat what you have, you are forced to eat fresh food as well, and not have 5,000 condiments clogging the back. I’ve been trying to find a small, efficient fridge in the states before I left, and it was hard (I’m still open to suggestions). Most apartments in Europe have one that fits under the kitchen counter. Do we need to cool the equivalent of 10 shopping bags worth of stuff all the time?
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Electric water heaters- It seems most showers I’ve seen in Europe have electrical on-demand heaters. Actually my house has one for my shower, and also has a small hot water tank for the bath, the sinks and the washer. Not sure if the combo is more efficient, but the on-demand heaters can avoid the tank all together if you get a bigger one.
-Tax Fossil Fuels: The best way to stop our addiction to oil is to tax the shit out of it. When speculators went crazy, our gas price jumped so severely that that Escalade you’ve been wanting to sell was worthless. As it should be I’d say. But back on the tax issue, there needs to be an economic incentive to burn less oil. Across Europe, a gallon of gas costs over $6 US. So, my fellow Americans, consider yourselves lucky, but maybe we should regulate ourselves, not by making Ford get that average of 25 miles per gallon, but by creating a demand for smaller, efficient cars by increasing the price of gas. (Ford won’t tell you this, but they sell a super small, efficient hatchback in Europe that they won’t sell in the States). With a tax we can make more wind turbines, buy up more forest land, and insulate houses. And where taxes have been strikingly absent, even in Europe, is with airline fuel. The most polluting form of travel has tax-free fuel! Even in Europe!
-Mass Transit systems- You don’t really need a car in Europe, and it often is too expensive to own one, if you count in the fuel and the registration fees (in Ireland, close to $1000 US/ year). But you also can get around super easy on the bus, train, or street car. The push for more transit networks in the States are encouraging.
-Small roads- After driving around rural Ireland for a couple months now, I’m still surprised by the narrowness of their roads, often with no shoulder, hemmed in by hedgerows. Their mega highways (dual carriageways) have 2 lanes, a smallish shoulder, and are planted HEAVILY with trees and shrubs. These highways are the exception and are a blight compared to most country roads that you have to slow around corners as their might not be enough room for two vehicles. This doesn’t make things easy on bike riders, but paves a lot less of the farmland, and makes things generally a lot nicer. Also only some roads are mowed on the shoulder, and if they are, only once a year, so you often get a nice diversity of local fauna and flora right along the road.
Sealed houses- The house I’m in is a cookie cutter suburban home, but one nice feature, and I’ve seen this in other places around Europe, is their tight seals. The windows are quite large, are dual lined with glass (well insulated) and have a handy dual action. Twist the handle oneway and it will swing open. Twist it down, and the window latches on the bottom and the window opens from the top, allowing for fresh air, but is safe from break-ins. Position it in the middle and the window seals completely shut with no drafts to be found. We haven’t had to turn the heat on much at all even in cooler, dreary Ireland.
Eat the local cuisine- In Europe, most places have their specialty foods, because that is where those food items have grown historically and their cultural of food was formed around it. Here in Ireland, everything is potatoes, carrots, cabbage, dairy and meat (And Guinness). Not much else grows here. By cooking with the local food you are supporting the local farmers. I’m doing my best, but my diverse palate is too much of a pull. And where 100g of fresh Irish strawberries costs $6 US, this is also trying as I know the one’s growing in my garden back home taste better and are free.
Coming from green Portland (and being a hyper aware ecologist), I am struck by the wonderful consciousness of our people. We try to recycle all things, easily, and are aware that we need more transit, higher population density and fresh air. Only in small pockets are people composting, recycling their plastic, and seeking out fresh, organic produce. I think the governments here are more environmentally progressive than the average European. The Knockvicar Organic Centre that I visited yesterday is still a small subculture, seemly a small community of other European ex-pats finding their green comrades and fresh produce. These dot the landscape however sporadically, but are increasing which hopefully they are increasing, and increasingly frequented by the average Irish person, rather than the weird ex-pats that I seem to really enjoy.
Europeans on average use ½ of the energy what us gluttonous Americans use. Most of this is due to most living near town centers, in apartments, with small cars and within walking distance of shopping centers. We developed our country around internal combustion engines, not the donkey cart and our own two feet. And because “going West” is so ingrained in our mentality as is our love for massive box stores (cheaper is always better!), we consume more, have bigger houses, fill our house with appliances, and drive around vehicles that are twice the size of delivery vans in Europe. So besides all the barriers in our culture against wanting to conserve, I believe most people don’t want to melt the last Arctic ice. So here’s some tips from our European ancestors, that you can incorporate into your life to conserve more CO2.
-Line dry your laundry. Driers are so rare on this continent. Even in moist Ireland, I’ve only seen one drier, and most people think of it as an excess no one needs. People line dry clothes from apartment windows, or have a handy rack to place near the heater on a wet day. Me, I haven’t used a drier at all since I’ve been in Ireland, and I usually have to dance a bit to get them dry in a couple days, but it really is no bother once you get used to it.
-Switches on the sockets- Up to 20% of US electricity is lost because electronics are kept plugged in (TV, VCR, Computers) as drain electricity even when they are turned off. Why not have a switch on the socket to turn off the electricity, and then you don’t have to worry about your two year old sticking their finger in it either.
-Small Fridges- In Ireland I’m sharing a fridge 1/3 of the size of most US fridges with 4 people. Not only are your forced to eat what you have, you are forced to eat fresh food as well, and not have 5,000 condiments clogging the back. I’ve been trying to find a small, efficient fridge in the states before I left, and it was hard (I’m still open to suggestions). Most apartments in Europe have one that fits under the kitchen counter. Do we need to cool the equivalent of 10 shopping bags worth of stuff all the time?
- Electric water heaters- It seems most showers I’ve seen in Europe have electrical on-demand heaters. Actually my house has one for my shower, and also has a small hot water tank for the bath, the sinks and the washer. Not sure if the combo is more efficient, but the on-demand heaters can avoid the tank all together if you get a bigger one.
-Tax Fossil Fuels: The best way to stop our addiction to oil is to tax the shit out of it. When speculators went crazy, our gas price jumped so severely that that Escalade you’ve been wanting to sell was worthless. As it should be I’d say. But back on the tax issue, there needs to be an economic incentive to burn less oil. Across Europe, a gallon of gas costs over $6 US. So, my fellow Americans, consider yourselves lucky, but maybe we should regulate ourselves, not by making Ford get that average of 25 miles per gallon, but by creating a demand for smaller, efficient cars by increasing the price of gas. (Ford won’t tell you this, but they sell a super small, efficient hatchback in Europe that they won’t sell in the States). With a tax we can make more wind turbines, buy up more forest land, and insulate houses. And where taxes have been strikingly absent, even in Europe, is with airline fuel. The most polluting form of travel has tax-free fuel! Even in Europe!
-Mass Transit systems- You don’t really need a car in Europe, and it often is too expensive to own one, if you count in the fuel and the registration fees (in Ireland, close to $1000 US/ year). But you also can get around super easy on the bus, train, or street car. The push for more transit networks in the States are encouraging.
-Small roads- After driving around rural Ireland for a couple months now, I’m still surprised by the narrowness of their roads, often with no shoulder, hemmed in by hedgerows. Their mega highways (dual carriageways) have 2 lanes, a smallish shoulder, and are planted HEAVILY with trees and shrubs. These highways are the exception and are a blight compared to most country roads that you have to slow around corners as their might not be enough room for two vehicles. This doesn’t make things easy on bike riders, but paves a lot less of the farmland, and makes things generally a lot nicer. Also only some roads are mowed on the shoulder, and if they are, only once a year, so you often get a nice diversity of local fauna and flora right along the road.
Sealed houses- The house I’m in is a cookie cutter suburban home, but one nice feature, and I’ve seen this in other places around Europe, is their tight seals. The windows are quite large, are dual lined with glass (well insulated) and have a handy dual action. Twist the handle oneway and it will swing open. Twist it down, and the window latches on the bottom and the window opens from the top, allowing for fresh air, but is safe from break-ins. Position it in the middle and the window seals completely shut with no drafts to be found. We haven’t had to turn the heat on much at all even in cooler, dreary Ireland.
Eat the local cuisine- In Europe, most places have their specialty foods, because that is where those food items have grown historically and their cultural of food was formed around it. Here in Ireland, everything is potatoes, carrots, cabbage, dairy and meat (And Guinness). Not much else grows here. By cooking with the local food you are supporting the local farmers. I’m doing my best, but my diverse palate is too much of a pull. And where 100g of fresh Irish strawberries costs $6 US, this is also trying as I know the one’s growing in my garden back home taste better and are free.
Coming from green Portland (and being a hyper aware ecologist), I am struck by the wonderful consciousness of our people. We try to recycle all things, easily, and are aware that we need more transit, higher population density and fresh air. Only in small pockets are people composting, recycling their plastic, and seeking out fresh, organic produce. I think the governments here are more environmentally progressive than the average European. The Knockvicar Organic Centre that I visited yesterday is still a small subculture, seemly a small community of other European ex-pats finding their green comrades and fresh produce. These dot the landscape however sporadically, but are increasing which hopefully they are increasing, and increasingly frequented by the average Irish person, rather than the weird ex-pats that I seem to really enjoy.
Hey Toby, thanks for the updates. here in africa, the appliances are tiny as well and no dryers. We hang dry our clothes. the fridge is tiny, and the icebox smaller. In the markets, produce is cheap and processed foods cost much more. there is a switch on every outlet and you boil water in those electric tea kettles rather than on stovetop. everyone shuts the lights or appliances off when not in use.
ReplyDeletebut they have no recycle program here, and trash is a huge issue. it funny how they are so economical and "green" in some aspects, but not in many of our more common aspects. i have certainly learned some things which i will take home with me.