Breeze Perspectives: Is Spain saving the world?
When it comes to consumption, the United States has a lot to learn
Posted on February 14, 2008
Before coming to Salamanca, Spain, I never considered myself a careless consumer of the world’s natural resources. In fact, I counted myself “earth-friendly” by doing things like turning the lights off in my apartment before leaving for class or recycling plastic water bottles and yogurt cups. And when I turned the shower water off while I shaved or when I set the recycling bin out on the curb for pick-up, I used to feel like I was Captain Planet.
It took a move to a new continent for me to realize both my and the U.S.’s wasteful habits. I have several simple ways Americans could conserve the earth’s precious resources. Every day, Spaniards amaze me at how well they conserve.
Take lighting, for example. Every public facility in Spain has motion-sensor lights. As motion-sensor lights turn on only when someone is using the area, they automatically ensure that lights are turned off and energy is conserved when that area is not in use. Some places even have lights that are on timers.
The Spanish also conserve lighting in their houses. A person leaving a room turns off the light or TV, even if she plans to return in a minute.
I cannot count how many times my madre has reprimanded me for walking into my housemate’s room without first turning off the light in my room. Three weeks and several scolds later, I am learning to save electricity like a Spaniard.
In addition to lighting, public facilities in Spain have other conservation tricks up their sleeves. For instance, in Spain the concept of a “to go” cup does not exist. Think of how many paper cups Americans use daily from coffee shops alone.
In Spain, not only are the ceramic cups reused, but the lack of a “to-go” culture means that if you want your daily fix, you have to actually sit down and take the five minutes out of your hectic life to drink it. Imagine!
Grocery stores in Spain employ another trick: They charge customers for grocery bags. Sure enough, when my friend and I realized we had to pay for that second bag, we gave it back and piled our purchases into one bag. Money saved. Natural resources saved. Earth (closer to being) saved.
At home, Spaniards are just as adept at conserving electricity and other resources as in public buildings. Most households air-dry laundry. If you walk down any residential street in Salamanca on a breezy day, you see clothes flapping on balcony railings like exotic birds.
In addition to saving electricity, my madre has also introduced me to a whole new level of recycling. In the United States, I felt proud of myself when I recycled a plastic yogurt cup. My madre recycles the lid to the yogurt container.
In the United States, I patted myself on the back when I recycled a newspaper. My madre recycles the paper wrapper to a tea bag. My conservation efforts in the United States made me feel like I was planting trees. Here, Spaniards are teaching me to plant forests.
From sensor lights to grocery bags with price tags, Spain has shown me just how far behind the United States lags in its efforts to protect our earth’s resources. Recycling and turning lights off are simple things we can all take the time to do.
Our participation in Earth Hour, a global movement to turn off all lights and conserve energy for one hour at 8 p.m. on March 29, would be an easy first step towards improving U.S.’s role in conserving resources, and after that organized hour ends, what’s there to stop us from continuing to save the world, one yogurt lid at a time?
Kathie Hagy is a junior English major, studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain.
