“So, is Sydney different than the United States?”
One week in, I’ve been asked this question more than a dozen
times. My answer to each inquirer is an immediate “yes.” The harder, more complicated
follow-up question I then have to answer is, “How is it different?”
Some of the distinctions are easy to identify right away. (They
drive on the left side of the road!) Some are subtler. (The supermarket closes
at 6? Weird.)
Before we left, our group was told that Sydney would be “greener”
than the United States. Since I’ll be interning with an Australian non-profit
that promotes solar power, this assertion piqued my interest. Even though I
wasn’t entirely sure what kind of environmentally conscious differences
Australia had in store, I was excited to find out.
I think the whole group would agree that it didn’t take us
long to find out. In fact, it was probably a bigger—and sweatier—culture shock
than any of us imagined.
So here’s my answer to just one facet of that tricky follow
up: a quick list of the ways that Sydney, Australia has proven to be “greener”
than Knoxville, Tennessee.
1)
Limited air conditioning
When we arrived at our Wattle Street Urbanest in 95°F (about 37C) heat and with the
sun beating down on us through that infamous Australian hole in the ozone, we
all expected the sweet, sweet relief of the AC systems we’re accustomed
to in the US. We walked in the doors to find…
It was still approximately 95 degrees.
Air conditioning, when available in Australia, is used with conservation
as a forethought. In our own apartments, that means it won’t run wastefully
when we aren’t there (when our key cards aren’t in the door), and nor will the
lights. When we are around, it runs only every other hour, except between the
hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., when they take pity on us and keep it constant.
2)
Funny looking outlets
Australian outlets are different than those in the United
States. Not only do they feature angled prongs and higher voltage, they also
operate using an on or off switch. To get the energy to flow, you must take the added step of flipping that switch after plugging in your appliance. According to various, questionable internet
sources, these serve the dual function of adding a safety measure and a way to
save electricity.
3)
Funny looking toilets
Perhaps
my dad was the only one who jokingly told me to check if the toilet water spun
backwards in Australia, but a quick google search found he wasn’t the only
person with that question.
While I probably never would have noticed how the water
spun, I couldn’t help but observe these strange flushing contraptions.
The buttons control how much water is used in each flush
depending on how much is *ahem* needed.
The left uses more water, and the right uses left. These exist elsewhere, but seem to be universal in Sydney.
1)
Clean streets
If littering is looked down upon in the United States, it
must be completely unacceptable here. I have never seen streets this clean in
any other city in the world. It’s very clear that people are deliberate with
the waste. There are a huge
number of public trash cans and quite frequently, very full recycling
containers that look like this:
4)
Public Transport
Thanks to an Opal card system that makes trains, buses and
ferries widely accessible, public transportation is the norm here. Granted,
this is true of many large cities worldwide, but for someone coming from a region that
largely lacks good public transport, it’s definitely a culture shock.
These differences range in how much they jumped out in the
cultural landscape. The air-conditioning was like the left-sided driving: the
clean streets more closely mimicking the shorter business hours.
I would argue that there is an underlying theme
across all of them. That theme is a cultural awareness regarding the
environment that Americans tend to lack, even if it's as simple as flipping an
extra switch, or paying attention to which button you press on the toilet.
I fear prematurely attributing this awareness to one factor.
There are many reasons, from the high cost of energy here, to a deep rooted-dedication
to preserving resources that dates back to the traditional aboriginal owners of
the land, to a highly active population who seems to enjoy the natural world,
that might be used to say just why Australians are so willing to alter their
behavior for the environment.
In the meantime, I'll try to figure out a comprehensive explanation, and I'll keep sweating.
One of the main observations I have made so far is how little Americans really know about Australians and vice versa. Growing up in America, we never really learned much about this massive continent on the other side of the world except that it had millions of dangerous animals and insects crawling everywhere and The Crocodile Hunter. Regardless of how much Australians learn about America and American history in school, there is still SO much that they don't realize as well. Although we are a world away, I feel so connected to this place already and cannot wait for what's to come. 
