Before I even arrived in Italy I questioned how I would be able maintain my individual sustainability efforts. I am constantly looking for ways to lessen my carbon footprint and help the planet, and overall I have been pleasantly surprised with my ability to continue this while I am abroad. Siena is a very easy city to continue these efforts in, considering their methods of transportation, water consumption and reduction of single use plastic.
Of course Italy is not perfect in terms of environmental impact, but worldwide, Italy has significantly lower rates of CO2 emissions, water consumption and plastic usage (per capita), compared to the United States.
It is easy to see how greenhouse gas emission is significantly lower in Italy than at home, considering I have to take public transportation or walk everywhere. Of course, there are some options of public transport in the U.S. but I’ve found it to be less accessible, especially in smaller towns and cities.
Even though Siena is not a giant city, like Rome or New York City, the bus and train system are readily available and usually not too expensive. But besides using buses and trains, it is so much easier to get around the city by foot. In Italy, it is obvious how much the the pedestrian is valued in the sense that they always have the right-of-way, so every street in the city-center is basically a giant sidewalk. Although places in U.S. cities might only be a 20-minute walk away, the lack of sidewalks makes it much more difficult to get from place to place without a car.
One of the first things that my program director mentioned to us when we arrived in Siena is how electricity and water in Italy are about five times as expensive as in the U.S., because they are mainly imported from other countries. So because of this cost, water and electricity are used in lower quantities: showers are shorter and might not get as hot, rooms are not kept as warm in the winter or cool in the summer, lights need to be turned off if the room is vacant, and washers and dryers are not a staple in all Italian households. While these small aspects of Italian daily life are definitely reflected in the country’s lower carbon footprint, not all of them have been easy for me to adjust to.
Shorter showers and being cautious of leaving lights on are already things I practiced at home, but it wasn’t as easy adjusting to the building temperatures. I still have to remind myself that even if the weather outside is perfect, I still need a sweater or scarf so I don’t freeze while sitting in class. The laundry process has also been a little hard for me to get used to, and while I know that a lot of energy and water is needed to run washers and dryers, my impatient American mind does not like having to wait two to three days for the sun to dry my clothes. So for now I still run my clothes to the laundromat to put them in a dryer, but I’m hoping I learn to slow down and get used to the wait.
The last thing that I have noticed a difference in throughout my daily life here is the lack of single use plastics. It is so nice to walk into a cafe and the standard is to put my drink in a mug, rather than a plastic or paper cup, and my pastry on a plate, rather than in a bag. At home, I always try to bring a reusable cup or ask for a mug to stay, but it is so much nicer to see that plastic is not the expectation here.
This concept can also be seen in grocery stores where plastic bags need to be purchased, some for around .90 cents per bag, which, for cheap individuals like myself, definitely sways me from using one, even if I forget my reusable bag. Walking down the street, most people carrying groceries are using reusable bags. I was also excited when I realized that Siena, and most places in Italy, have good and clean water, so I am able to use my reusable water bottle instead of having to buy plastic water bottles every day.
I personally find it very intimidating to look at the big percentages and rates of pollution and usage of resources in each country, because it does not make me feel like the small changes I make on a daily basis actually have an impact. If significant improvements are going to be made to our beautiful, but dying, planet, change needs to be made by governments and corporations on a larger scale. So, it is refreshing to see the way that things I do on a daily basis are a reflection of an entire society that is more prone to sustainability, because it makes me feel like I am a part of something much greater than my individual efforts.