While there are many things that help Spain differ from the United States, here are a few minor ones I've noticed within my first 3 weeks of living here:
1.Nobody has a front yard
In fact, I’ve hardly seen any grass besides in parks.
2. One of the most popular modes of transportation is by electric scooter, motor bike, or vespa
Barcelona is a very pedestrian friendly city. I would say walking and using public transportation is the number one way to get around the city, but, scooters definitely come in at a close second. There are even designated parking spaces for scooters and vespas since there are more of them than there are cars. People do drive cars here but the streets are so narrow that it makes more sense to have a bike or scooter. Those who don’t have bikes usually walk, use the metro and bus system, or call a cab.
3. They sell their milk un-refrigerated, in one liter cartons
I’ve seen milk in cartons before, but I’ve never seen it just stored on a shelf like dry goods. Also, the milk here doesn’t expire as quickly since it does not go bad at room temperature. The milk here is also pretty inexpensive.
4. They have a very intricate waste management system
Yellow is for cans, plastic bottles, and cartons (such as milk or juice cartons)
Blue is for paper and cardboard (such as cereal boxes)
Green is for glass
Brown is for organic waste such as compost
And Gray bins are for everything else
In America, we have it so much easier. We have one recycling bin and one trash can. We don’t even have to separate anything out! So then how come we still don’t recycle as much as we should? Here, everybody recycles. In malls and public areas, each trash can has three separate holes, colored Yellow, Blue, and Brown so that people can dispose of their trash properly. It is integrated everywhere.
5. No matter where you are going, you always board the metro headed in the right direction
By this I mean the metro heads right, never left. Of course, sometimes you mess up and go in the wrong direction, but you always board it heading right. As someone from Chicago who utilizes public transport often, I can tell you I have never been this confused. In Chicago, sometimes you board the train going to the left as well as the right. I always know whether I’m headed North, South, East, or West. Here in Barcelona, I have lost all my sense of direction. My internal compass has lost all orientation. I never know where I am and the placement of the sun in the sky is not very helpful. On that note, Google Maps is also pretty useless. It’s like everything on the map is upside down and backwards. That being said, as soon as you learn your landmarks, you pretty much can navigate the city very easily and won’t need a map.
I feel like America can take some notes from Spain, especially pertaining to numbers 3 and 4. Milk with longer shelf life? We wouldn't be throwing it out as often! Everything we want to recycle being color coded? How much easier can it get!? We have it good, but we can have it better. We can learn from other countries and that could help us grow not only as a nation, but help keep our planet healthy.
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