The Little Things

Posted By: SpencerWilliams

Posted On: March 5th, 2019

Attending: Letterkenny Institute of Technology

Not all of the differences between Ireland and America are completely obvious. For example, the gas station food in Ireland is actually acceptable and it considered a go- to option for people who don’t have time to sit down and eat. It’s a minor distinction but I can comfortably order wings or a pulled pork sandwiches at the gas stations and I don’t know anyone in their right mind that would order those things at a Shell or BP back home. One of the not-so subtle differences that I noticed between the U.S and the Irish is the steps that Ireland takes to be Eco-friendlier.  The country is full of healthy green- land because people here live a green lifestyle. Below is a list of frequent sustainable behavior that I have noticed over the past 6 months.

• I first realized these slight attempts at being green in the grocery store. Instead of automatically getting handed a plastic bag for all your things, you are asked to pay a dollar for them. As a result, majority of people here reuse bags from the past or bring bookbags to Aldi and Tesco. This has proven to be a strongly effective way to minimize plastic waste because even those who could care less about the environment have no intrest in paying extra for bags. I mean if anything can motivate a person to change their behavior…its mula.
•  The next thing I quickly noticed is that in almost all public bathrooms regardless of it’s a Garda station or a McDonald’s provide air-drying systems and motion detectors for the sinks in order to limit the amount of paper towels and water we use during bathroom trips. This approach is not only more sanitary, but it also prevents us from wasting and overusing paper on a day- to- day basis. Similarly, the showers at away games are set up in a way that requires you to keep pushing a button every 15 seconds or the water stops. The temperature of the water is permenantly high so that allows us to avoid wasting water while waiting for it to heat up. If you are like me, than you probably waste water in the shower regularly just chilling and thinking about life instead of just getting in and out so a measure to limit that habit is definitely vital.
• I can’t even take cash out the ATM without being reminding that Ireland is environmentally superior to the U.S. At ATM’s instead of just automatically spewing out a receipt, the machines only print them out when they are specifically requested. Most of the time, the information on the receipt can already be viewed on the screen anyway and giving a countless number of people  the option to withhold from printing could go a long way in saving the planet on a larger scale.
• Even LYIT, the school where I am pursuing my masters has several “earth day pledge” flyers hanging up around the school that encourage us to switch off lights and monitors when they’re not in use, use power saving options on computers and turn down heating controls instead of opening windows to cool down. On top of that, there is regularly school-wide emails sent out about saving the environment including one titled, “drowning in plastic” which consisted of a plastic bottle deposit scheme geared toward devising a plan to put a cap on excess plastic usage. Currently there is large cut-outs of cardboard signs that show the do’s and don’ts of recycling all around the campus. All of those things on the surface seem like very small irrelevant differences, but together they contribute to a culture that prioritizes the well-being of our planet. Ireland is a fresh -air -having beautiful country but it did not get there by accident. 

The Irish mindset it simply more conscious of living a sustainable lifestyle and it shows. I have a friend here who is very lenient about leaving garbage in their car but the moment anyone tries to litter they will freak out and refuse to allow it. Within Irish homes it is common that they use the fireplace for warmth, and I noticed that many of them including my land lord are sticklers for turning the lights out when you’re not in the room. Even the biggest cities like Belfast and Dublin generally tend to have much less garbage all over the ground compared to places like Chicago and NYC. The amount effort put forth here in combating climate change is definitely respectable and they have shown that it doesn’t take life- altering decisions to make a difference in the world. America should take notes.

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