• ByTheWine bar in Lisbon features empty wine bottles in its ceiling
Vicki Tennant shares some signs of love for Earth she saw when walking in Europe.
Vicki Tennant is a Sydney psychologist, avid traveller and committed neighbourhood composter
On a recent trip to Europe (France, Portugal, Spain and the UK) I looked out for interesting everyday sustainable, environment things. Here are some of the things I noticed.
Aqua Tubes - Dissolvable toilet roll tubes
• Toilet roll which dissolves
When I first encountered these in Paris my immediate reaction was sceptical. I thought it’d be like those dissolvable plastic carry bags that don’t really dissolve.
• It indeed dissolved into mush within seconds
To test it out, I popped it in a bowl of water and it indeed dissolved into mush within seconds. This means they’re fully flushable and are one less thing to go into waste or recycling. I was pleased to see this Lotus brand toilet paper is commonplace around France.
Empty wine bottles as a design feature
• Wine bottles in the bar ceiling
A very hip wine bar BytheWine in Lisbon features empty wine bottles as part of its ceiling design. It looked stunning and it was good to see such creative use of bottles.
Street waste sorting
• Recycling bins in Portugal
It was commonplace in Portuguese towns to see these four bins with clear labelling for sorting waste. The bins themselves seemed sturdy and relatively unobtrusive.
The good and the ugly of waste
• Rubbish bins beside the walk path
A big chunk of my trip was walking 300 kms in Portugal and Spain. The first day was about 20km mostly on boardwalks along the coast. I loved the design of the bins made from timber logs that blended so well in the environment.
• Rubbish dumped beside the track gets a sea view
Then, in stark contrast, on the same stretch was a huge pile of dumped rubbish.
Rich soil and small scale farming
• Rich soil, small farms
Walking through the rural areas of Portugal and Spain, the rich soil and small farmed plots were noticeable. Vines were laden with young grapes and there were lots of new plantings of crops like corn. I regularly saw individuals (women and men) tending their plots.
Pontevedra, Spain - an urban transformation
• Pedestrians rule in Pontevedra, one of Earth’s best 15 cycling cities
During an overnight stay in Pontevedra, it took a while to realise what was different about this pretty city: its centre is entirely car-free.
I learnt that it’s known for exemplary urban planning and has won many international awards. It has been recognised as one of the 15 best cycling cities in the world. The measures to reduce traffic have reduced by 65% the emissions of fossil fuels in over the last decade. It was noticeable that pedestrians ‘ruled’ and so many people were out and about enjoying the city.
Innovative pest control
• Recycled bottles become scarecrows
There were lots of scarecrows in the fields but this innovative and simple pest/bird deterrent caught my eye: plastic bottles (with their sides cut to make flaps) upended on stakes. The effect was that they spun around in the breeze and were no doubt very effective in keeping the birds away.
Plastic bottle collection
• Plastic bottle holder for children to use at a school in Portugal
This large metal fish was at a coastal primary school in Portugal. It was there to hold plastic bottles collected by the children with the great visual lesson to save the bottles from ending up in the ocean.
Bicycle storage, Brighton, UK
• Bicycle hangers in Brighton, UK
There were many of these resident bike storage hangars on the streets in Brighton. This is a great way to encourage cycling by making it easy for residents to securely store their bikes in a city where there are mostly terrace houses and few garages.
Vicke