During my time in Aalborg, Denmark I have used and seen various amounts of sustainable and eco-friendly transport. For example, bike lanes that can be followed from the city centre all the way out to neighbouring towns like Nørresundby. But what I have found to be the most interesting and widely available mode of transport is… the ‘PlusBus’. The PlusBus isn’t like any regular bus you see in the UK. The PlusBus has it’s very own lane in the road to get past the busy and chaotic traffic that the normal car user would experience during rush hour. I suppose this is why Aalborg Kommune introduced the PlusBus, to encourage private car users ,who are stuck in traffic with their engines blaring, to leave their cars at home and get on board the PlusBus. The PlusBus can hold up to 150 people during a busy Monday morning and don’t worry if you missed your bus to work or university, as the next PlusBus is only 7 minutes away from getting to you. I have used the PlusBus many times whilst studying in Aalborg and it has allowed me to get to university on time whilst also contributing to eco-friendly travel, plus making cities more sustainable (SDG 11).
Furthermore, when I first got to Aalborg I was surprised why there were so many different bins for recycling and common waste. I asked one of my Danish dorm mates what was ‘Pant’ and they said to me that it is a charge in Denmark for buying bottles and canned drinks. At first I was taken aback as I have never realised what Pant was up until now, but then when I went to the supermarket there was section where I could take my bottles and cans to be recycled. Which in return provides you money back for recycling your cans and bottles! I couldn’t believe that the UK didn’t have this, this would see a significant increase of people being conscious of the environment and their litter to improve the climate (SDG 13), whilst also incentivising people to return their bottles and cans to reduce poverty in cities and towns across the UK (SDG 1). Ever since then I have always kept stock piled my cans and bottles in my room to bring back to the shops to get my ‘Pant’ back and purchase other items in return.
Lastly, I have always taken my water bottle with me wherever I go to hydrate myself and reduce my waste of microplastics by buying bottles. Keeping this on my conscious has helped affirm my ethics and morals of preserving our planet and maintaining the safety of the ocean and wildlife. I was pleasantly surprised that when I walked about the University of Aalborg, there were multiple water stations available to fill up my water bottle and even around the city of Aalborg. This promotes sustainable and regulated water systems to allow people to have easy access to safe and clean water (SDG 6).
