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[deleted] t1_iu3h9md wrote

This is interesting. I’d love to see how this turns out for the EU if I’m still alive.

I’m jealous about how they care for their environment. I just came off a one month vacay there and appreciated how they care for their land and such.

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dfgooner t1_iu3hwih wrote

I think it’s as much a baked in part of society as it is the result of any policy. Like, when I was in Germany and Belgium in the summer, compared to the UK it was striking how little litter there was, especially on the sides of motorways and places like that.

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dfgooner t1_iu3ibo2 wrote

That’s a good point about the relative ages of Europe and the US, perhaps that has something to do with it. The UK doesn’t quite have the same excuse!

Honestly, few things make me angrier on a daily basis than seeing litter everywhere. I just can’t get into the headspace of someone who thinks it’s cool just to chuck their crap on the floor.

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mdielmann t1_iu69cy2 wrote

I had a coworker that would just toss his empty coffee cup on the ground on the way into work. He would literally pass 5 trash cans in the next 2 minutes, but I guess he figured that was too long to hold onto something he didn't need anymore.

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[deleted] t1_iu3i5bn wrote

Yes! Same! European cities also have people who clean the streets too.

Granted we have that in the US, but I only see them on the roads and side of major interstates.

I don’t see much litter in the streets, but our sidewalks and roads are dirty if you compare them to some European cities.

I also believe since Europe is older than the US, they hold onto their old architecture and older roads so they care for them better.

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Kindnexx t1_iu58xwt wrote

It’s also German culture in this case, Paris and Marseille give London a run for its money

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Grainis01 t1_iu3vm5r wrote

It will turn out poorly for anything east of germany.
Our countries are poorer(median wage is about 1/3rd of median german wage), and even second hand electrics are atleast 40-50% more expensive than same year combustion.
And i dont see this trend reversing.
I will fuck up personal mobility for poorer countries, and especially disabled people on govt assistance, a properly modified car is already a luxury for most of them, it will be worse.
EU has one big problem with sweeping things like that for environment they base their decisions on countries where consumer can absorb the extra cost without much stress, but for 1/3rd of the union those changes are catastrophic to people.
For example as part of our EU agreement our country was supposed to "liberalize the electricity supply market", we did that and now we pay a price for KWh that is 10% higher than germany while our wages are 1/3-1/2 of theirs.
Sweeping changes in EU while in general are a good idea, they often fuck over the little/poorer countires.

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aaOzymandias t1_iu3mewu wrote

Some parts of the EU, sure, others? Not so much. Last time I was in Rome and surrounding area it was a dump, with garbage and litter everywhere. The Baltic stats have been pretty good about being clean though.

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[deleted] t1_iu3mtr4 wrote

Understandable, I was in turkey (not apart of the EU obviously) talking to a French guy and he said Paris is disgusting.

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AaronThePrime t1_iu445lp wrote

They care for their cities and people no doubt, but I wouldn't say their environment. There's still a long way to go in terms of their energy dependency and relative overconsumption, so while the countries themselves don't produce much pollution, the real problem is what they import from other countries. Similar thing for the US, only they have both problems instead of just one.

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