Part One

During my first two weeks here in London I have noticed a few key differences between residents here versus residence in Iowa, and the States in general. One of the differences I first noticed was while taking public transport, the bus and the rail system, passengers generally keep to themselves and will rarely talk to strangers. Even when buses and carriages are near capacity I could still hear the sounds of the bus engine. I find that this makes it much more pleasant to use public transport here compared to public transport in the US, which I think is often filled with loud, obnoxious, and rude passengers. More than 3 million Londoners use public transport daily. I believe the popularity of public transport here can be partially attributed to the culture here. Public transport in the US has increased in popularity recently but 45% of Americans do not have access to any type of public transportation. Personally, I believe the low usage rate of public transport in the US is caused by the stigma associated with it and the lack of infrastructure for public transport making it an ineffective mode of transportation. In Iowa City, where I live, buses are unreliable and there are only a few routes, making it hard for residents to get to their destinations.

During my internship, my supervisors were talking about housing with a relative and one important part of the process of house searching was how accessible public transport was from the house and how long the journey to their workplace would be. It was evident that cutting down on commute time is important in London. When my parents were looking for a new house a few years ago distance to work was not a key factor in decision making and availability to public transportation was never a factor.

After having a few days to think about this conversation, to me, it appears that Londoners view having more time at home and time to experience their city is more important than it is to many Americans, who care about having large houses and yards. The more time I spend using public transport the more flaws I see with it, but my appreciation for it also continues to grow. I think that public transport in the US could be popular and help cut down on emissions and travel times if money was invested in increasing infrastructure.

Part Two

While grocery shopping at ASDA I have noticed that most, if not all, shoppers bring reusable bags with them to the store. The UK enacted a 5p charge for plastic bags during 2015, and since then sales in plastics bags have decreased by 90% in the UK’s seven largest retailers, decreasing from 7.5 billion to 550 million plastic bags sold annually. At the ASDA near campus, the charge for buying a plastic bag is 15p, but the bags are more durable than the typical single-use bags. I have bought two bags while shopping but they are reusable and I no longer need to buy plastic bags while shopping. While this personal choice is heavily incentivized, through the charge, for me this is an easy practice to adopt and is not very inconvenient. I believe that once I return to the US this habit will be very easy to continue. Another single-use plastic that I have avoided using while in London are Ziploc bags, instead, I have been using reusable Tupperware, although I only made this choice because I could not find plastic bags while shopping, this choice has cut down on my plastic waste. Another thing that I have noticed in supermarkets here is that the produce is clearly labeled with where it was grown, this makes it easier for shoppers who are looking for more locally grown produce, cutting down on the pollution created through transport to the UK. Although I have not made the choice to cut down on my food miles, this choice is made easier through clear labeling.

I noticed that in our flats the recycling bin is near the same size as the rubbish bin. And both bins are equally used. Compared to my dorm at Central, where people throw significantly more stuff away than they recycle. I think the choice to recycle is made easier here by having clearly labeled recycling instructions on the product. This makes it easy to correctly recycle things instead of just throwing them away. 

It is apparent to me that there have been large efforts in the UK to encourage more sustainable practices on a personal level. And the country has seen positive results from these efforts. I think that if these practices were adopted on a global scale sustainability would see a dramatic increase and waste and plastic use would decrease similar to how it has in the UK.

1. “The Millions of People Who Use Public Transport in London Every Day Deserve a Frequent, Comprehensive, and Fairly Priced Service.” British Politics and Policy at LSE, February 7, 2012. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/travel-watch-keep-london-moving/.

2. “Public Transportation Facts.” American Public Transportation Association. American Public Transportation Association, October 28, 2019. https://www.apta.com/news-publications/public-transportation-facts.

3. Smithers, Rebecca. “Plastic Bag Sales in England down by a Third in Last Year.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, August 1, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/31/shoppers-use-of-plastic-bags-in-england-continues-to-fall.