All of you have calculated your emissions and you have surely discovered the unexpectedly high impact of some of your behaviors (eating meat, flying to a sunny destination, etc.) on your total footprints.
Are there any behaviors that you are really willing to change or to improve for the sake of the environment? What challenges do you encounter or think you will encounter while trying to change these things? What help, support, and insights from others would make your life easier with these new behaviors?
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Reflections
I'm a girl from Argentina and I currently live in Switzerland, and I've noticed a really huge difference in mentalities. Here we are used to recycle and it is kind of unusual not doing that but in Argentina -at least what I saw- it is totally different. There aren't different bins to divide the trash. When I tell them they shouldn't throw everything together it is like speaking another language to them and it is very hard to explain how important it is.
Anyone agrees? Did you solve this problem?
I've noticed that too in many countries, including in South America.
I don't think it takes liong for recycling to become second nature to people, but there is an initial mental hurdle to get over, to think before you throw something out.
But of course there is a bigger issue correct? There needs to be recycling infrastructure. Do you live in Buenos Aires? I'll bet there is some limited recycling infrastructure there, but not commonly used by people. You can start by trying to find out who does recycling and if they would accept drop offs, say, from a local high school.
The high school could build their own bins, collect the recyling, and drop it off at the recycling center. The news media might be interested in a story like that, and this is how trends get started!
Right now (since I was little actually) I live in Switzerland, but I have lots of people from my family living there. Surely there are some infrastutures, but the problem is that people don't look for them or they're not accessible.
An aunt of mine works in a kindergarten and she told me she tries to explain it to children, so that they tell it their parents and so on. It is very unfortunate that they don't have divided bins in the town. She [my aunt] took pictures here, in Switzerland, of our bins because she couldn't believe they were everywhere!