DU Abroad

I spent this past weekend exploring the capitalof Catalonia, and one of the most famous cities in Spain. Barcelona was very large with an abundance of famous art, beautiful architecture, and delicious food. To me, Barcelona felt similar to other big cities that we have in America with the exception of high rise towers.

I found that almost every individual that I encountered spoke English quite well, which was important because a surprising number of citizens in Barcelona do not speak Spanish. They all seemed to speak Catalan, a language similar to Spanish but spoken mostly in Catalonia.

I spent the majority of my time exploring the numerous architectural phonemes around the city that were created by the famous Antoni Gaudí. As seen in the featured image of this article, we first went to the Sagrada Familia. It began construction in 1882 and will not be finished until the year 2026. It was truly the most magnificent cathedral I have ever laid eyes on.

Unlike many cathedrals in Europe, the outside of the Familia is astonishingly intricate, compiled of beautiful works of art and sculptures. The inside, however, is quite simple. It is simple but beautiful. It is said to resemble an enchanted forest due to the long columns and colorful glass.

I then spent my time roaming Park Güell, which is a 45 acre park that was also designed by Gaudí. The park was full of beautiful architectural works that are quite famous around the world. There were many basic works such as pillars and benches, and more intricate areas where there are colorful sculptures made out of recycled tiles.

There are many things to do and see in Barcelona, it is a huge city. I did not limit myself to the works of Gaudí during my weekend, but his works were definitely the most interesting things to see. I would love to return and do more in this city, but I really enjoyed the short amount of time that I was there.

There is a large amount of skepticism in the United States about sustainable practices, both due to the financial aspects and the effectiveness. While I knew that there were many countries that had taken a number of steps towards sustainability and climate change mitigation, I’m not really sure what I expected of Tasmania.

I knew Tasmania was wild; a state of Australia which boasts an incredible appreciation for nature by preserving just under half of its land area. There are areas of Tasmania that are incredibly remote, rarely explored by humans.

Living sustainably on this dynamic, sensitive planet is incredibly important for the maintenance of vital ecosystems and Earth processes. The goal of sustainability is to ensure that future generations will have access to resources of the same, or greater, quantity and quality that our generation has access to. Being a Sustainability Minor at DU, I immediately noticed the steps that Tasmania has taken towards sustainability.

There were two things that really caught my attention in the first couple weeks of my stay: solar panels and rainwater tanks. Every small town here has at least a few buildings with solar panels. In Hobart, the capital of the state, you can see solar panels perched on roofs in almost any direction, in every part of the city. As for the rainwater tanks, I actually wasn’t sure what the tanks were when I first saw them because I had never seen a rainwater tank. Moreover, I’ve never seen so many tanks of that size and abundance. There is even a Rainwater Harvesting Association of Australia, which promotes rainwater collection and works to maintain guidelines in Australia. It doesn’t surprise me that rainwater collection is so popular, given the country’s history with drought.

What also caught my eye was the switches on the power outlets and the half-flush option on the toilets. The switches on the power outlets allow you to cut off power going to the device that is plugged into the outlet. This extremely useful, as it eliminates the wasted vampire power, otherwise known as standby power. In terms of the toilets, during my time here (about 3.5 months), I have only seen two toilets that do not have the half-flush option. Even some really old toilets have the half-flush option. Yet another water-saving initiative implemented by Australian.

Aside from appliances, I have noticed that most homes are small in Tasmania. Granted, Tasmania is a small state comprising of just over a half-million people who like to keep it simple, but I personally believe that it is out of the ordinary to have such a great number of small homes. Intentional or not, this practice is inherently saving energy and reducing the amount of building materials needed. It is important to note that homes and buildings don’t seem to be properly insulated, which increases energy usage. After researching the subject, I found that there are several articles written recently about Australia’s insulation problem.

There are so many great sustainable practices in Tasmania, but I have noticed a few select items that could be improved upon. For one, reusable water bottles are not popular here. This may be due to the lack of public water fountains and bottle filling stations. In fact, during one of my first days of class, I walked all around the Geography building looking for a water fountain to fill my Nalgene up. I was surprised to see so many plastic water bottles being bought and used. Interestingly enough, some people actually reuse their plastic water bottles for a few days.

Additionally, Tasmania is lacking an adequate amount of bike lanes. When I first arrived, I bought a bike so that I didn’t have to take the hour walk from accommodations to my classes. I’m not an avid bike rider, so I’m not always comfortable biking without bike lanes. Despite this, biking around is a popular practice here, even with the massive hills. But I do believe that more bike lanes, as well as the addition of bike racks to the buses, will encourage more people to bike to and from work and school.

Overall, I’d say Tasmania is a pretty sustainable state. I think Australia, as a whole, has taken on a lot of sustainable practices. There is definitely room for improvement, but that’s with every other country in the world, too.

Tasmania, give yourself a pat on the back for this one.