Hi! I thought I might introduce myself as we get started. I am Jude and I am doing things slightly differently. In August 2009, we left a small town in New Brunswick, Canada where we had a 1/2 acre vegetable garden, participated in the local CSA (community supported agriculture), supported our local farmers' market and producers, and had a fantastic garbage collection system based on separating home garbage into wet (most things compostable) and dry (recyclables) which we added home composting to. All that was fantastic of course but we used the car all the time because there was no local bus system and the winters were mighty cold! A job opportunity for my husband came up in Denmark and we moved here.
So here we are trying to be green in a small city. We choose to rent a flat close to town and work so we could do without a car. Thankfully Denmark does have great bike lanes! So we walk and cycle as much as we can, use buses and the train, and rent a car when we have to. We still hang our laundry out to dry despite some tensions with some neighbours about doing so. Last summer, we grew tomatoes and zucchinis in tubs on our balcony and hope to expand that this summer. We eat a largely vegetarian diet and eat only organic meat when we do. We use hankies and cloth napkins/serviettes even if this makes us the only people in all of Denmark to do so!
But it has been interesting to see some of the differences between Canada and Denmark and indeed between the image of Denmark and the reality. As Julochka mentioned, Denmark does a good job at the green rhetoric but isn't so good at the practice of being green. Although there is recycling 'depots' at various spots in town which collect paper, glass and aluminum cans (pop cans), tin cans, plastic, and cardboard are not collected. There is a larger recycling station/dump which collects more items but it is out of town and only accessible by car; there is no home recycling collection. As a difference, most of the cities I have lived in Canada have home recycling collection and some include compostables.
Anyways, I hope to bring a slightly more urban perspective to the table. I am really looking forward to this discussion about how we might live a sustainable life!
3 comments:
hey judith, it will be great to read about your urban perspective on things!
I am always interested in the differences between countries. We here in the US need to stop using so much oil. That is our big weakness in my opinion. The big cars, everyone driving everywhere even when they could walk.
I look forward to your posts.
Fantastic. An urban life perspective is just what I need to see! :D
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