In economics class, we study the macro and the micro economy – the big or the small. Both are building blocks that make up a wider picture. I could write widely about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the macro impacts travel and lifestyle will have on the environment. But I want to focus on the micro, the UN’s 12th goal: responsible consumption.
The Danish word “pant” in English means “deposit”. I learnt this early on in my few weeks living in the picturesque second city of Denmark: Aarhus.
We had an intensive 18 days of summer school. As you can imagine, the first day of class saw hordes of global students gathering around the café, chasing the familiarity of hot coffee. These blue and white coffee cups became apparent everywhere; the classrooms, hallways, picnic tables. An interesting detail to notice, when everything was so shiny and new. Later that day, wandering the streets and harbour and bus stops of this unknown city, I noticed more blue and white branding in the form of cup drop-off stations. This branding wasn’t just noticeable, it was sewn into the city’s modernity.
The following Monday, I too became one of those students chasing a caffeine solution to my tired and travelled morning. I finally saw this infamous blue and white cup up-close. In the five minutes before class: QR code scanned, not-for-profit mission understood, and satisfaction achieved from the REUSABLE© coffee solution I was taking part in. My latte cost around £2.50, and 50pence of that was my ‘pant’. Upon returning the cup to a spotted drop-off station, that deposit was returned. Coffee is not the only reusable drink container in Aarhus.
It made me wonder how this straightforward idea was not mainstream practice. While it was everywhere in Aarhus, I learnt REUSABLE was a pilot study taking place in this city. Their website says reusable plastic cups “can cut CO2 emissions by more than 70% compared to disposables” (https://www.reuseable.dk/). Other sustainable practices of specific recycling and electric buses are more widely achieved across Denmark.
Exploring and studying in Denmark this summer has opened my mind to a more innovative and sustainable lifestyle that other countries should expand into. Sitting on my electric bus to university, reusable coffee cup in hand, following my eco-shower that morning, after recycling my breakfast packages, it sunk in how pioneering the Danish lifestyle is, compared to other places. The economist in me understands why this is the case – but the pioneering thinker in me wants to change that.
Denmark has made me a more sustainable student. There are 60+ nationalities visiting Aarhus University this summer; these sustainable ideas could cross cultures and borders. To all policymakers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and fellow students, I ask: what would it take for you to create meaningful change?
All it took them was one cup of coffee.
A simple innovation to reduce a growing waste crisis.
Exactly the kind of solution you’d expect from the happiest city in the world.
