Two friends are meeting after a year apart to discuss their study-abroad experiences…
Daisy: Ella! Hi, finally! How was Paris?
Ella: Daisy! It’s so nice to see you again. My year in Paris was amazing! How was Lyon?
Daisy: Lyon literally changed me, I had the best time. I think I’m a new person.
Ella: I feel the same! I feel a little smug as well because I think I managed to do it pretty sustainably, you know like our uni suggested?
Daisy: Oh did you? That’s so good, yeah they kept saying to think about our carbon footprints. How did you do it?
Ella: I got the Eurostar to Paris instead of flying with all my suitcases, and then made sure to get coaches around Europe when I was travelling!
Daisy: Aw that’s great…but didn’t you fly home with an extra suitcase because you bought so many clothes whilst you were there?
Ella: Yeah of course. I know it’s not ideal but no way was I getting the train with THREE suitcases, come on now. French Zara is amazing!
Daisy: Ella, seriously? Did you not know Zara’s carbon emissions from transport alone are over 2 million! Could you not have tried shopping at any local second hand markets? I found loads using the Vide-Grenier app.
Ella: Yeah I wanted to, they’re everywhere in Paris, but I got so nervous going to them. They’re full of locals that don’t speak English!
Daisy: I get you, I got so stressed in Lyon practicing French, but it’s so much better for local economies if we invest into them rather than corporations. It gives local communities more decent job opportunities and prevents them from being pushed out of their own city.
Ella: I guess travelling without local investment is also unsustainable since it still harms the local environment?
Daisy: Yeah, exactly! I think the same goes for food. In Lyon I loved using La Ruche Quit Dit Oui to find local and seasonal farm produce. Shopping there made me feel more integrated into the culture and less like I was just a Brit bounding around and wrecking the local system.
Ella: Yeah I never really thought about how I was acting whilst I was there, I thought sustainability was just about my transport method. I’d love to go abroad again though so I’ll bear it in mind.
Daisy: You definitely should! If people didn’t consider the way they were living abroad then travel would become completely unsustainable because local communities would die and be taken over by the corporations with massive carbon footprints and we’d lose everything special about it.
Ella: I guess your geography degree taught you something! Anyway, more importantly….did you date anyone in Lyon?
References and Resources
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/zara-owner-inditexs-transport-emissions-jump-2024-2025-03-14/
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/05/balance-over-tourism-sustainable-travel-future-economic-growth/
https://www.workaway.info/en/stories/10-responsible-simple-tips-for-sustainable-travel#iajau
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
https://laruchequiditoui.fr/
https://vide-greniers.org/
