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Preparing for my Semester Abroad

How I plan to be sustainable abroad

Hello everyone! Just two days until I leave for Copenhagen, and I am a mixture of nerves and excitement! At home and when I travel, I try to reduce my waste as much as possible. This includes bringing my own reusable containers, utensils, and cups everywhere I go. It was hard to know what to pack for a semester in Copenhagen because I have only so much room in my suitcases. Copenhagen definitely has the reputation of being a sustainable city, but I still have my concerns. To help with reducing my waste abroad, I decided to pack two water bottles, a few stasher bags and some reusable containers, a set of utensils that can fit in a purse, a collapsible cup, and a few grocery bags and produce bags. Additionally, I packed a shampoo bar, conditioner bar, solid body lotion, solid face and body wash, and a toothbrush made from recycled yogurt cups that I am hoping will last me the semester (links included down below). Other than that, it appears everything else I will need, like cookware and bedding, will be provided by DIS. A lot of my friends have told me that if I forget anything, I can just get it there, but I rather not buy something I will only probably use for my four months there and Copenhagen is expensive! I am hoping that if I do forget something, that I will be able to buy it used there (I am really hoping for some good thrift shopping). Another thing I am worried about is the food. I have been vegan for over four years now for the environment, and I have no idea how vegan cooking will be in Copenhagen. I know there are a good amount of vegan restaurants and restaurants with vegan options, but eating out, especially in Copenhagen, is expensive. It is hard to know if my vegan staples, like tofu, lentils, and red curry paste, will be in most grocery stores, and how expensive it will be.

In terms of transportation, I am so excited to be living in a city with great public transportation and amazing bike lanes! I come from a suburb of Chicago and go to school in Atlanta, which is not known for great public transportation, so often times the only way to get somewhere is to drive or share a lyft. I will be living only two miles away from DIS, so I am planning to get a bike in addition to my commuter pass. Bike lanes in the United States are definitely more of an afterthought, so I have never felt safe biking through a town, but I am hoping Copenhagen will change that. It will be amazing not having to rely on cars and biking will not only help me reduce my carbon footprint, but also give me a workout!

Even with all my worries, I could not be more excited to be living in Copenhagen for four months. I chose Copenhagen because my interest in environmental science has always been focused on environmental policy and how humans can live with their environment. I considered other programs in South America that focused on ecology, but decided I wanted to go somewhere that is not about conservation through separating humans from ecosystems, but learning how we can better live in our ecosystems, because after all, humans have to live somewhere. I am hoping I can bring ideas about city recycling and composting, urban design, and how to engage citizens back to the United States.

Links:

Water bottles I’m bringing (decided to bring a bigger one and smaller one): https://www.swell.com/products/swell/sip-by-swell/sip-bottles/top-dog/ and https://www.swell.com/products/swell/bottles/lily-wood/ in the 25 oz

Stasher bags (microwave safe!): https://www.stasherbag.com/products/reusable-silicone-half-gallon-bag?variant=19694101332054

Bamboo utensil set: https://www.to-goware.com/collections/to-go-ware-utensil-sets/products/classic-bamboo-utensil-set

Collapsible cup (perfect to put in your purse and use to get a cup of water or use to share a drink): https://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-Travel-Certified-Silicone-Drinking/dp/B0754FXQCM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=collapsible+cup&qid=1578530728&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE5MlY1Vjk4MjhKV0gmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NTc1NzYzMkZVRzBJMkg4Sk5YJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzNzYzNzQxNDZBTFQ0RzVTVlEzJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Shampoo bar (looks like Walmart has them online for $10 + free shipping): https://ethique.com/products/pinkalicious-shampoo-bar-for-normal-hair

Conditioner bar (equivalent to five bottles of liquid conditioner): https://ethique.com/products/wonderbar-conditioner-for-oily-to-normal-hair

Bar soap: https://www.lushusa.com/shower/bar-soap/sleepy/09696.html

Solid body lotion: https://www.lushusa.com/body/body-lotions/little-pot-of-energy/08483.html

Face wash: Buche De Noel from Lush. Sadly is a limited edition face and body cleanser only available around Christmas time!

Toothbrush (I purchased from Trader Joe’s): https://www.amazon.com/Preserve-Toothbrushes-Lightweight-Bristles-Packaging/dp/B009S7OJ6C/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=yogurt+cup+toothbrush&qid=1578531310&sr=8-1

Reusable produce bags (not the best for keeping produce fresh but they work): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ISYOL40/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sustainability in Copenhagen: First Impressions

Hej everyone! I have now been in Copenhagen for about a week and a half and have been loving it so far. I have definitely been impressed with some aspects of sustainability, but it is not the perfectly sustainable place I had hoped it to be. I think what Copenhagen does best is incorporating so many aspects of sustainability. In America, I find that most people focus on simply recycling or turning off the lights when one leaves the room, but Copenhagen expands aspects of sustainability into their food and transportation sectors as well. All cafes I’ve seen here have mugs and cups for dining in and most restaurants use real plates and silverware. I have been bringing around with me my collapsible cup and bamboo silverware, but have barely needed to use them because cups for water here have all been glass and I have not even seen plastic silverware. One time when a restaurant was handing out samples on the street, the samples were in paper cups and came with bamboo utensils.

Copenhagen has amazing anti food waste programs such as WeFood and TooGoodToGo. WeFood is a grocery store where all of the food is surplus (cannot be sold at regular supermarkets because of overdue “best before” dates, incorrect labels, or damaged packaging). TooGoodToGo is an app where restaurants and grocery stores can sell leftover food at a reduced price and the customer goes and picks up a bag of the extra food from the day at the restaurant or grocery store. TooGoodToGo says that so far it has saved 73,884 tonnes of CO2 from saving 29,553,667 meals from going to waste Also, Netto, a grocery store that seems to be on just about every block here, has a program where a few hours before closing, the fresh baked goods from the store are half off. I have been really impressed with the efforts in Copenhagen to combat food waste, a problem I really do not see being addressed in the U.S.

One thing that I have noticed that Copenhagen does very poorly is plastic waste in grocery stores. While in U.S. I find produce to be wrapped in plastic some of the time, it seems in Copenhagen all of the produce is packaged in plastic. I bought six tomatoes and it came in a plastic tray with a plastic wrapper. The plastic here does feel thinner, which I assume is trying to reduce the amount of plastic needed, but the thinner plastic makes it harder to reuse. Still, I found a zero-waste, packaging-free grocery store called LOS market that I am planning to go to next time I buy groceries.

Get to know the Blogger

Hi everyone! My name is Leah and I am from a suburb outside of Chicago but am currently a sophomore at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. I am double majoring in environmental science and economics. In my free time, I love to hang out with my rescue dog Winnie and go hiking. I am passionate about sustainability and learning how humans can better interact with our built environment. Many people believe in trying to remove human influence from environments to conserve nature, but I believe we need to learn how to live with our environment, not separated from it. This semester I am studying abroad in Copenhagen where I am taking a mixture of environmental economics, policy, and science classes. I chose Copenhagen because of its reputation for sustainability, so I am hoping to learn a lot about creating sustainable cities this semester!