From Madrid to Salamanca

The trip has been pretty uneventful, nothing too eco/energy related to remark on except the usual thing about how trains are amazing ways to get around. But I did notice this as an East Coaster. The amount of sprawl here is next to nothing. The only time you see buildings are when you come across a town. The rest of the way is grass, hills, rocks and trees…I want to say that it’s an open canopy savannah. Part of the density may be caused by the seemingly inhospitable terrain in western Spain but a big part is that these cities were build before the car so they are built on a human scale (unlike some American cities I could name). Living on a human scale is vital to a sustainable future because a city if a city’s lifeblood is cars, its pulse will stop after Peak Oil.

There were lots of trees around the tracks but I did see wind farms in the distance a few times, but as there were a lot of trees and the farms were in the distance, I was unable to snap a picture so you’ll have to take my word on it. Also, urban density preserves natural areas from development which is always a good thing…

Eco-Friendly Pest Control for Salamancan Convent

The other day I was walking around town when I bumped into a falconer feeding his falcon on his leather-gloved arm. Since it was Christmas here recently, and their are tons of days to various Catholic saints I figured he was here as part of a fair or something like that for kids. I asked him what he was doing with the falcon and he explained to me that there are far too many birds and mice around the convent and the park nearby and that he and his falcon were there to take care of that.

What a great form of pest control, both clean and green. It doesn’t use harmful chemicals like DDT or inhumane traps (like the glue traps Georgetown University uses to get rid of mice- or it’s what they gave me and my roommates when we had one).

Plus it’s cheap and pretty cool.

I Thought I left These Ideas Behind in the US

The other day was my first day in my two week language program at Universidad de Salamanca. It’s four hours a day, the first two are language, the next hour is writing and the final one is culture. As it was the first day, we went around the room and said where we are from and what we are studying. After I said I study environmental sciences my writing professor said she doesn’t believe in recycling and that they just mix everything together and throw it in a landfill. I hear that all the time in the US and I eventually got so sick of it I took a tour of a recycling plant and guess what, they actually recycled. Craziness. Maybe there are a few towns out there that have corrupt recycling programs, but the world does recycle. It would be an impressive act of subterfuge if the entire world made up a billion dollar materials industry.

In my culture class when I said I study environmental sciences, (since STIA is a little hard to explain) my professor asked me if I believed in Global Warming. I told him that it is the most important problem facing society and we must solve it immediately. He responded by saying, so you think it’s real? I wish it weren’t but just because I wish it were so does not mean it is. Hopefully these professors’ opinions are the exception, not the rule.

Photo credit: Mossaiq

Where you live determines many things about who you are. Whether it is your quality of education, cultural awareness or general health, it’s all about location location location. Being green is no exception. Currently I am visiting Madrid, and I keep wondering to myself “how easy it for the citizens to be green?” It is Southern Europe after all so we know they use less gas, electricity and water than we do in the US, which is mainly caused by much higher prices of those commodities here and that the region has serious issues with droughts in the summer. But the whole story is not explained by price. After all, I am a tourist who doesn’t pay any utilities here, but I am still being green(er) than usual because of the Madrid infrastructure.

First off, Madrid actually has a city-wide recycling system unlike Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC (all places I’ve called home at one point or another). There are giant recycling bins dotted throughout the city, clearly labeled so even a foreigner like myself whose Spanish is not the best, can understand. I have seen them in every stage of varying stages of overflowing to nearly empty, but the key thing is that they are being used and used correctly. I’m not sure what the residential recycling system is yet, what kind of things they take or even if there is one, but it’s only my second night here.

Secondly, the infrastructure is there to use water efficiently in both city parks and businesses. At my hostel (Cat’s Hostel) all faucets are on timers (very, very short timers) which practically makes all showers navy showers. But since the user has no control over how the water runs, I can’t stop it when I just wanted to quickly rinse my hands or tooth brush. As far as water management goes, I think that is still a net plus although slightly inconvenient (which raises questions about the efficiency vs. convenient chart).

Thirdly, the city of Madrid gets major points for irrigating its flora properly using drip irrigation and not sprinklers in el Parque de Buen Retiro (its central park). I do not understand why other cities and organizations (like my school Georgetown) do not use this exceedingly simple and efficient form of watering.

Finally, every toilet I have seen here (and that I noticed on my trip to Israel last year) has the two types of flush capability; one for liquid waste and the other for both types. I have yet to figure out how to do it properly though which tells us two things. I am probably a fool for not being able to figure it out (much like Sylvester Stalone in Demolition Man) and that you have to give people more than just the resources to be efficient or green, you have to let them know how to use them properly.

In Madrid, the capital of Spain, a huge structure called the “Air Tree” is currently under construction. It is designed to both affect the surrounding environment and act as a social gathering point for people.

The “Air Tree” will generate its own electricity using solar photo voltaic cells placed on top of it. The solar panels will generate enough electricity to be able to sell the energy to local energy companies.

Inside the structure trees will be planted to produce oxygen, just like an ordinary tree. Due to this the surrounded areas will get a cooler temperature. It is expected that during summers it will be 8-10 °C cooler inside and nearby the “Air Tree”. More trees will be planted around the structure to enhance the cooling effect.

The “Air Tree” will be built with recycled materials and has been co-financed by the Housing and Land of the City Council of Madrid and by the European Union under the LIFE programme-2002 (ENV/E/000198).

You can find more information, in Spanish, and pictures of the “Air Tree” over at Plataforma Arquitectura.