Why Can’t We Do Better?

I was sitting in Charles De Gaulle airport, leaving Paris, heading to Rome for work. As usual, I ordered an espresso and my lovely Robert, a tea. Since we were headed to our gate, we received our drinks in paper cups with…wait for it…paper lids (all from recycled paper). Had we chosen to have table service at this little coffee spot in the airport, we would have been served our drinks in…wait for it…glass cups and mugs. Glass! As in, this mug will be washed and used again, not tossed in the landfill with hundreds of thousands of others.

It got me to thinking. Why is Europe so far ahead of us with these little things that make such a big difference in the footprint placed on our planet? And before some keyboard warrior tells me to just go and live there, let me say this. As an American, it’s our duty…yes, our duty to question and work to make things better.

Europe is made up of capitalist countries, not much different than we are. They rely on tourism and consumerism. They want to live comfortable lives. So what is it?

I spend a lot of time in Europe working (and agonizing over each flight I take, but I am not prepared to leave my country; it’s worth fighting for, in my view). My choice of work takes me abroad often and I feel blessed to do what I do.

As I look around other countries, I see several things that strike me.

First, the mass transit systems are amazing. Sure, there are delays now and then, but my experience has been so very positive. People take trains before cabs, buses before private drivers. Cars are smaller in cities like Rome and Naples because they ancient cities were built before, well…cars. It’s not by design but necessity that cars are smaller.

They also live in ancient cultures, surrounded by history both good and not so much. They see, in their modern cities, what the excesses of ancient empires did to humanity; how arrogance resulted in the fall of their society.

Despite many Americans’ sincere and passionate resolution to be green, per capita CO2 emissions in the U.S. were 19.78 tons according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, compared to 9.6 tons in the U.K., 8.05 tons in Italy, and 6.6 tons in France. Wow, right?

I have found in Europe that there’s a fair amount of social pressure to live greener. It’s far easier to channel your good intentions into action. And you feel far worse if you don’t. If nearly everyone is carrying a plastic bag (as has crept back into post-pandemic life in my beloved Philadelphia) you don’t feel so bad. But if no one does (as in Dublin, Paris and Naples) you feel pretty irresponsible. In most of Rome the plastic bags (if you can call them that) are compostable.

In America, we have packages within packages. In many European countries, by contrast, you walk your tv out of a store without a box if you’re picking it up.

My country has had the good fortune to develop with a lot…a lot of space, cheap energy and big…everything, from houses to cars to refrigerators.

When I first started spending time in Europe, in rented apartments, I had to adjust to not having a clothes dryer. Now, I rarely use my dryer at home, opting for my trusty drying rack instead.

The biggest difference I see though is in air conditioning, something we simply adore in the states. In Europe, air conditioning is limited, not so very cool and wildly expensive. The office buildings are kept at temps that allow you to dress for the season, not needing a parka draped over your chair to battle the absurdly low temps in the office.

In Paris, businesses are required to turn off the lights inside at night, at monuments at midnight. Why do we need PECO, the Philadelphia electric company advertising themselves and the time in glaring light when resources are so precious? They, of all people, should know better.

In the end, it’s up to each of us to do and demand better. We cannot rely on businesses and special interest groups to do better. They have one goal, to turn a profit…a big one, at the expense of all of us. So it falls to us to do better; to demand better; to take care of each other and our fragile planet so that generations to come might enjoy Mother Nature as we have.

As for me, you’ll find me hanging laundry in the spring breezes.