Copenhagen Comparisons-Green Transportation

Copenhagen, Denmark prides itself on being a “green city,” on that is environmentally friendly and on its way to being sustainable. This is not hard to believe seeing as how nearly every attraction in and around the city is accessible by foot, it may be a long walk, but you can find your way from point A to point B by walking on pedestrian friendly streets and paths. Compared to other cities that we visited I would say that Copenhagen was probably the most tourist friendly city, however, Stockholm is fast approaching. One thing that I did notice more so in Copenhagen is that there are more bikes than any other form of transportation, or at least it seems that way. In Oslo, we took the tram or bus system everywhere we went, and while I did see a lot of pedestrians on the city streets, it did not seem as accessible as Copenhagen; also, I did not see bikes nearly as often as I did in other Scandinavian cities. In Iceland, our hostel was a bit outside of the main streets and proved to be quite the hike from the bus depot; however, it seemed that driving was more popular than any other mode of transportation. With all of this being said, one thing is for certain, Scandinavia is blowing the United States right out of the water when it comes to public transportation and conscience mode of transportation…we definitely stand to learn a lot. –Kory Bonnell

Green Living in Stockholm

It was actually quite interesting to see that environmental awareness is something that is more of a way of life then a trend, like we have here in the United States. Being someone who loves both environmental politics and sustainable design, I found it very refreshing to find that many places, not just our specific hotels were “green” and on the right path towards bettering our environment. The hostels and hotels that we stayed in were picked for the specific reasoning that they were “environmentally friendly,” but if you were to have seen the everyday stores, restaurants, and tourist attractions, you would; too, see that “green living” is a way of life. On one of my trips to “Old Town” I came across this little jewelry story…I instantly fell in love with it…the store was filled with the brightest, craziest looking pieces of jewelry I had seen. I think I spent a little too much there, for the fact that the boys immediately left the store and sat outside for what I am sure seemed like an eternity. After starting a conversation with the store owner, she started telling me about how all of the glass that is used in her jewelry is recycled, melted, and then re-hand blown into the pieces that she makes. This sparked my interest even more, and I shared with her why I was on the trip and my interests in the environment and design. She shared with me the layout of her store and how pretty much everything, aside from the other manufactured knick knacks that she sells, was environmentally conscience. From the lighting, to the fixtures, all they way down to the floor, this woman had turned an old store into an environmentally friendly boutique that not only looks spunky, but sells some pretty sweet jewelry too! She told me that I would be surprised to find how many people actually remodel or design their homes using sustainable materials and products. This is definitely a stop I will make again, when I find my way back to Stockholm.-Kory Bonnell

Nobel Museum-Oslo Norway

While in Norway we got the chance to tour the Nobel Peace Prize Center. Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prizes, the Peace prize is just one of five, however, it is the only prize that is decided by and given in Norway. The rest of the Nobel Prizes are awarded by and in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented and awarded every year on the 10th of December by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. My favorite part of the center was the “Garden of Laureates.” It consisted of aisles of frames containing the pictures and biographies of all Nobel Peace Prize recipients. It is here that you can find the likes and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Kofi Annan, and many more, but it was the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner that grasped me the most. Wangari Maathai became the 2004 Peace Prize Laureate for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace. Maathai is the founder of Kenya’s “Green Belt Movement,” it is an organization that promotes the planting of trees and other environmental concerning activities. She came in to much conflict with the Kenyan government, and after an unsuccessful run for the presidency in 1997; she finally was elected a spot in parliament in 2002 with 98% of the vote. As a model for both peace and the environment, Maathai not only exemplified what we had hoped to find on our trip, but for me, someone who is passionate about sustainable development, she has begun to pave a path that puts environmental issues at the peak of global awareness. –Kory Bonnell

Iceland-Our trip to Thingvellir National Park

Over 45 million years ago, Iceland was all mountains, consisting of the Appalachian Mountains and the Norwegian mountains. Then came the time, about 20 million years ago, that Iceland served as a land bridge between North America and Europe. It was at this time, and still somewhat today, that you can find three main landscapes; ice age glaciations, land bridge, and hot spots. Our tour guide for the day, Throstur Eysteinsson, explained to us how these events happened and how Iceland came to be. He also explained to us a lot about peacemaking and the environment. In Iceland between 20-30% of all power and energy is geothermal while the rest is made up of hydroelectric energy. He also explained to us how Iceland is trying to get back on the right track after ruining the landscapes for many years, massive soil erosion became a huge problem and ruined much of the forests and natural landscapes. As far as peacemaking, Eysteinsson brought us into Thingvellir National Park and showed us the site of the original Icelandic Parliament-which happens to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world. When it came time for Parliament to assemble, they came and camped on areas surrounding the “law rock.” The law rock is where they would gather around while the speaker would shout out the laws. The officials were elected and in order for everyone to hear the laws, they needed to be memorized and shouted by the speaker-it often took days to recite all of the laws. It was at this site where independence was declared from Denmark in 1944 and renewed again in 2000 with the celebration of 100 years of Christianity. National celebrations are still held here today. –Kory Bonnell

Denmark and the UN house

During our tour in Denmark we were graced with the honor of meeting with one of the UN representatives, Pasi Rajala. Rajala is one of the representatives of the UN peacemaking efforts. We met with him briefly and he told us some of the ways that the United Nations actually works. Although we did get a pretty good over view of the UN and what it does in Denmark, some specific examples that he mentioned that they work with are: human resources and "suggestions" for many parts of the third world countries striving to become more sustainable themselves. They work with many NGO's and non profit orginizations as well in order to get more volunteers and workers out in the feild. We also learned that Denmark (Copenhagen persicly) was to be the host of a new meeting soon that was to focus on green energy somewhat like the "Kyoto Protocal" confrence. One of the main thing that our meeting seemed to suggest was the fact of getting each person active in some sort of a cause. We, as students or recent grads, all have the oppritunity to make this world the way we want, it is just the actions that are needed to put forth the motion in making the world a better place for everyone in and of itself. It was interesting to get to think in a new way politicaly on this trip and by visiting this place, I think we all were more influenced to think about what we can actually be capable in our own lives as far as forming the future. It was a real eye opener... and who knows, maybe one day one of us will be working at this orginization in Scandinavia helping the world one step at a time.!




ERika Strom

Denmark - Ecological Farm

The National School of Ecological Farming focused on ecological cultivation, while Dyssekilde had ecological construction in it's building. the picture shows their meeting hall which has about a 1.5 feet of insulation and utilizes the skylights. We also saw houses of different nature. Clay, Brick, wood, cob, and cement were all different forms used. Some of the houses used seashells for foundation. Some insulated their roofs with dirt and had different plants and grasses to hold the dirt there. The town also had 6 windmills and had a comunity garden for vegetables. - Patrick Austinson

Sweden - Green Hotels

The first thing I noted at our swan labeled hotel is that the key card was not plastic but wood. The TVs had an on/off and a standby. Like other places we stayed the toilets had a large and small flush, to go along with the size of what you were flushing. The showers had two knobs, one controlled water flow and the other temperature. This fights the habits some have of increasing hot or cold instead of decreasing, which is a habit that will waste water. - Patrick Austinson