With love from Norway – Eco living as an ex-pat

After working for 4 years in marketing for an ecological brand, I have become well and truly consumed by ethical issues.  I’d consider myself as a practical eco-vangelist, I’m proactive about ethical and social issues and do what I can but I also understand the way that industry and the business world works means there are logistical limits to eco-living.

Recently though, my life has taken an interesting turn.  My boyfriend was offered the opportunity to work in Norway for a year, so we have relocated from Reading in the UK to Stavanger on the South West coast of Norway.  I have had mixed green emotions over this move, as technically we’re only here because of the oil industry…but for me, the chance to live in Norway was not to be missed.

In terms of green living, Norway has a lot to offer.  So far (and I have only been here for 2 months) I have found that certain things are made much easier to do, thus are incorporated into daily life rather than being seen as a huge chore.  Recyling, for example, is super easy and in my experience much simpler than in England.  We have green (paper), brown (food waste and compostables) and black (general waste) wheelie bins, and mini versions of each in the kitchen.  We wash and sort all plastic and metal and store them in big boxes in the basement, then take the full boxes to the recycling station at the end of our road, one of many in our area.  A deposit is paid on plastic bottles and metal cans, from between 10p – 25p, then after use they are returned to the supermarket and the deposit is then given off your shopping in return.

But the biggest change for me is transport.  Everyone here cycles or walks much more than in England.  Perhaps it’s because the winter here is so dark and gloomy so everyone makes the most of the summer, (the studded bike tyres available from all the sports shops tell a different story though) but sometimes our road looks like the Tour de France has come to town with all the cyclists on their daily commute.   I’m more than happy to join them – I’m now hooked on cycling.  I find that the attitude towards transport (and exercise) is much more laid back and ingrained into daily life.  If it only takes 15 minutes to cycle to work, why would you drive?  Norwegians are renowned walkers too.  I wasn’t surprised to find out that the ‘Norwegian mile’ is equivalent to 10km!

Life as an expat has some disadvantages in terms of environmental responsibility, however as much as I’m doing in my new day to day life.  I can’t reconcile the fact that my carbon footprint will increase by a huge amount because of flights home to friends and family.  Or assume that because what I’ve seen so far makes the Norwegians much more conscious of the environment than us Brits.  However, I’m enjoying being able to make the most of the great outdoors and as it’s incredibly beautiful here, that is one major thing which makes me determined to do all I can to preserve the environment we live in.