Don't worry, you are normal in Europe.
Now prepare for some rambling. This is a hodge-podge of the thoughts and rants I have gone through in various emails and comments to people on the ecological side of making the world a better place, so I tried to assemble it into some sort of post. Maybe some other time I will have to assemble my thoughts on peace and helping your fellow humans.
Plastic grocery sacks aren't available here in Germany. And you have to pay about 50 cents for every paper bag that you use. In Germany EVERYBODY has a nice cloth and/or an attractive basket for groceries. I was so excited when we went basket shopping and got ours. It seems that Americans feel the planet-killing plastic sack is a god-given right, or that they will look silly if they bring in a basket or cloth bag, or they are just lazy. I encourage everyone to keep a big basket in the kitchen (or car) and take it with you every time you shop. "Silliness" be damned, we have a dying planet. Those sacks are made of OIL, the same commodity that has polluted the planet, caused the majority of global warming, and made the economic increase in the computer and flight industry seem downright slow.
In 1970 oil was 3 dollars a barrel, networking was conducted by some nerds in a couple colleges, and Bill Gates had yet to write a single line of code. Now, over thirty years later there are literally billions of websites, companies such as Google, Intel, Dell, and Microsoft seem to run the world, except... Oil. Oil has gone up so much that it is crippling the remainder of our economy. The cost of a barrel of oil has gone up over 4300% in the last 30 years; the computer/electronics industry can't keep up with that level of growth.
How about trash? Here in Germany you will receive a HEFTY fine if you do not separate your trash into the following types: Brown Glass, Green Glass, Clear Glass, Metal, Plastic, Paper, Refuse, and Biological.
And speaking of HEFTY, only the Plastic trash is allowed to be in a plastic "hefty" bag. The Bio MUST be in a biodegradable veggie-plastic trash bags: They are required by German law.
How about the trains? In the Netherlands the trains run on reconstituted used vegetable oil. In the US the EPA still has not rated veggie oil, so it is still deemed illegal. Heaven forbid that they use the research already paid for and done by another country and start the legalization process, instead they must spend your tax dollars to do a US study. I drive a diesel Smart car that gets 90 MPG. It is rated at the second lowest emissions rating in the EU right behind pure electric cars. In the US my car doesn't even meet EPA emission standards. The EPA is BIT outdated. They measure emissions in particles per LITER of exhaust, so an 8-10 MPG Ford F-350 can pass, but an 80-100 MPG diesel Smart car can't even though I go almost 10 TIMES as far as the Ford on that same liter of exhaust, all that matters is that the liter that you DO put out is "clean." The EPA needs to re-look their standards and start reforming standards to resemble Europe: particles per distance traveled.
The US is backwards, or at least way behind. It is time for everyone to write their congressman and demand solutions. Tax oil products higher and use the money for research, or demand that they begin using research from other countries to reform US legislation. I think the EU is a reasonable source of quality scientific work, and I bet most Americans do too.
Also, I know you all are hurting at 4+ dollars a gallon, but it just went over $10 a gallon here in Germany. It is over $12 in the UK. Americans need to DEMAND HIGHER taxes on gasoline and diesel to ensure that consumer demand goes down or at least government revenue goes up. We can not solve this crisis without a little sacrifice from us all.
Sort your trash, take it to recycling plants if your city doesn't offer recycling. Ride you bike or walk to work. There is no excuse for any distance under ~10 miles by bike and ~2.5 miles on foot. If you go farther than that then you need to start looking at a new place to live or a car that gets 45 MPG or better. Or better yet, buy a small scooter and get 125 MPG on your daily commute. I see at least 50 scooters buzzing down the road as I ride my bike to work each morning.
Make the world better: it takes some effort!
