The discussion on trains in the US really hit home for me. I always say that building a robust high speed rail network in the US would drastically reduce emissions from cars and flights as people go about their mini vacations. Obviously theirs loads for us to work on, but that’s my personal top priority.
my husband and I cry every day cuz the US FRIKEN SUCKS and would suck a bit less if we had a sufficient and affordable train system. We spent 2 weeks in Japan in 2019 and it was SO FREEING to just be able to hop on a train or bullet train and go just about anywhere at almost any time. I can't stand driving. But I highly doubt we'll ever get a decent train system thanks to giant oil corporations and lobbyists. 🙃
@@PerfectPride yea I get the depression for sure. I’m actually seeing signs of change here in Southern California. First, our High Speed rail project seems suddenly revived out of nowhere. I was seeing headlines for it in the past week and was thinking “this isn’t dead after 20 years?” Don’t know why but it seems to have finally broken through some final barriers. They’ve also suddenly added on an LA to Vegas branch that the want to build. We’ll see if it happens… Then there’s the fact that LA is currently one of the cities building the most public transportation. Furthermore, when I look at the planned builds, it’s not all dedicated to just getting people into downtown! There’s plans to help people get from the northern suburb to an eastern suburb and whatnot! Still not at the level that I’d like to see it, but I do find it encouraging nonetheless.
Would love to see more city-to-city trains. Especially along the coasts, cities are certainly close enough/dense enough to connect via rail. East-to-West coast I think would be a hard sell. The US is huge and even a high speed train would take a long time to cross the US.
Im glad you talked about the public transportation issues that can't just be so easy and straightforward. I used to live in Indianapolis and my parents were 45mins drive from downtown, it would have taken me several busses and about 3-4 hours to get to them from downtown.
I’ve lived in London and currently live in DC and yup, she’s right about transport lol. I took 3? Ubers in an entire year in London, and two were because I had luggage. I got everywhere I needed to go, at any time of the day, by metro or bus. DC is currently having major metro issues due to cutting corners and it caused a derailment, so it’s not great right now lol. It takes an hour just to go two miles in some cases. It’s vastly different and so true, there’s very little (convenient) bus service outside the city and cars are pretty much essential.
The whole "you don't have zones? No zones?" Hit me hard lol. As an ohioan and a beginner gardener it has been so helpful to know exactly what zone I'm in. Also, the texture thing with food totally makes sense to me. I'm not vegan, but I try to eat more plant based my biggest hang up is I miss the texture of meat. The "chew" of it. No dish I have made yet (mind you I also try to be economical when shopping and don't buy anything crazy) has been able to meet that desire to just chew on something tough. Weird, but it's a texture thing.
This might be my favorite video from both of you :) I laughed out loud literally several times. Having lived in both the UK and the US (and the last ten years in Colombia), it was really interesting hearing both perspectives. Having lived in the global South, it’s been a little intense coming back to the US this year and coming back to the extreme consumption and throwaway culture here!
Interesting comparisons. For trees in the UK you don't necessarily get fined massively for cutting them down on your property. It's only if they are especially protected. This would be if they have a tree protection order TPO, or its a conservation area where permitted development rights have been restricted. Its not a general blanket rule that you can't cut down old trees. Though maybe it should be?
I live in salt lake and wanted to visit Seattle with my mother. We only had 3 days to do so driving wasnt an option (14 hours each way) and we had no choice but to fly this short distance. The only public transit option from Salt Lake to Seattle is a 20 hour Greyhound bus. Well two busses because you have to transfer in portland which is extremly out of the way. Honestly if there was a train between these cities it would proably take less time than flying. ( Both cities have more 1 million people btw so why cant we get between them😭)
i live part time in the uk, northern part and i love farmers markets! they are so lovely! im from switzerland and im used to it but the ones in the uk are huge in comparison. the public transport in swizerland but the uk is awful with public transport, theres park and ride that we use a lot.
@@raapyna8544 its a service in the UK where you can park your car in a huge parking lot near a city and a bus drives from that parking lot to the city and inside the city too, the parking is dirt cheap and so is the bus ticket and its cheaper than to use a parking lot inside the city, the government did that to avoid having too many cars in the city that destroy the old british roads and just to reduce traffic in the cities, im not aware if all cities do that but certainly old cities do to preserve it, hope that helped :)
American living in the UK currently and I feel like it is more sustainable. Thrift stores are sooo huge compared to here .. over consumers.. love that we have a farmers market twice weekly !
We live near Chicago. When we worked, we used trains and busses. We own one small car. We seldom buy anything new. Most people our age seem to shop for a hobby. Tina
@@Alexandra-xv1qm long story short they greenwash and don’t really care about employees. At one point in time they had a team that truly cared about sustainability. All those people have left (or been pushed out). Now the focus is on expanding and making money. For example, they used to have dedicated staff at each store that managed the sustainability programs called “ER” teams. They cut those roles when they upped the minimum wage. Also cut staffing in general when they upped minimum wage. Seems nice to get paid more but when you go from a 5 person team to a 2 person team you start wondering if the extra dollars is worth it.
I think part of the reason that the US has such a large carbon footprint is that the US is VERY car-centric. Some places have no public transit, or it's very poorly run, and so the best way to get someplace is to drive your own car.
As a Texas resident, the comment on transportation I had to agree with, I know it’s different with everyone but you pretty much need a car to get to the public transportation… doesn’t seem very realistic…
my personal carbon footprint is 0.45 i live in the middle of nowhere in the middle of britain every penny i spend is spent in the uk and i consider everything about that purchase before i part with my money my bins were last emptied in november 2019 i last went into a supermarket in december 2019
So much of the difference does seem to come from the time periods when the different countries started growing and developing. So much of the U.S. didn’t grow up until after cars were a common thing, which allowed cities to be built with sprawl and also meant many of the younger cities in the U.S. didn’t build connecting train systems or even good local transport. European areas that were already established before cars were around for the advent of trains and built up public transport systems that didn’t assume widespread car ownership. Even the older parts of the U.S. are kind of like that. The big eastern cities tend to be more walkable and have more train connectivity compared to middle and western America, because those places were bigger cities before cars came along. At this point it’s like we have to reverse engineer much of the U.S. to stop assuming car usage. (Same thing with agriculture and local farms, honestly.) Europe has many farm businesses that are family businesses that have been going for hundreds of years. Not so with U.S. agriculture. So you don’t have as many small local farms that are established.
This, but also most major cities before the 50s had trolleys or some form of public transit. Much of it was ripped out & replaced with buses and highways due to lobbying from General Motors.
I follow a lot of urban planning channels. You’re mostly correct. However, they also made a point of redesigning cities. Even many historical down town areas were bulldozed to make them LESS walkable and more car friendly. It’s not just a matter of timing, but also quite purposeful restructuring to ensure car dominance.
I wonder whether a factor in differing attitudes to waste in the UK and US comes from the experience of rationing in and after WW2. My grandparents remember rationing and scarcity and so they have an aversion to wasting food and wouldn’t even think of throwing away clothing that could be donated etc. At the very least, an awareness of waste (if not a full on aversion to wastefulness) is something that was perhaps passed down from that generation in the UK?
Oh yeah, totally. Similar to why poorer countries don't have as much food, textile, and just general waste because people simply can't afford to throw something away that can still be used.
Yes, this is what I was taught growing up. You don’t waste anything if you can avoid it. I’m a little more balanced I think, because sometimes that isn’t the healthiest choice for a variety of reasons, but really my parents and grandparents did so ‘well’ in their lives because they worked hard and never overspent. Always very frugal. I’m trying to follow in their footsteps. I’ve been lucky because I was in a generation where education was much more available and that’s let me have a few years in a good job. But with the economic problems in the world at the moment I’m trying to use their good examples to not contribute more than I have to to climate change, and to save my money and resources for when I can’t get work.
I do agree that a lot of people in the US have disposable income but I think even people who can't afford it just have the mentality to keep shopping and shopping it's crazy
It's always a warm and fuzzy feeling when two RU-vidrs come together that you already love and talk about something that you are already passionate about 🤗 what a great Wednesday suprise!!
Where I live in the southern US, thrift store prices have jumped so much. I have gone to Goodwills and Dollar Tree items are $2-$3 at Goodwill. Clothing from Kohls is cheaper at Kohls than Goodwill. It’s frustrating.
As for the menstrual cup, I use it, but it is annoying for me to wear it for more than three days in a row, so I also use menstrual underwear. Having so many waste free period options I don't see how see how we have to use ONLY the cup. Yay for waste free períodes, whatever product!!
i'm happy with my cup, but i've also heard of a menstrual disc, which sounded interesting to me. i heard it is easier ot insert than the cup. haven't tried it though.
It is really interesting to hear about public transport. It is so easy to hate cars, when you live a place with decent possibilities (I live in Denmark), but the US is so different. I feel bad for you there 🌍💕
Growing cities in the US don't even seem concerned with creating a public transportation system to accommodate their growing numbers. I've lived in Atlanta for 7 years and since I moved here, it has had a massive influx of people but the public transport has even gotten worse 🤢
I live in England and where I live there are not zero waste stores or bulk stores (not even just a bulk section in a normal store) so it really stops me from being as sustainable and low waste as I would like to be.
Thankfully where I am I have quite a few bulk stores. I believe there are 4 within a 20 minute drive from me. So I’m very lucky. At the moment I’m back home with my parents saving for a house and I’ve managed to get them to change some of their ways! When I finally move I’ll be bulk buying all the way.
I’m in Edinburgh and I can think of at least 5 zero waste /bulk buy stores in the city and know of several more in most Scottish towns . My local coop now has a bulk section as do our M&S stores - small but a start
UK here. I don't buy seeds, I just pop a veggie into a bit of soil and water it periodically. I usually buy produce from the local farm so everything can be regrown. If I have a tomato going bad, I'll just pop it into a pot. It's been a revelation
So part of the trains issue is that the vast majority of the passenger trains in the United States (I think the only exception is the Acela high speed trains in the northeast corridor, but I could be wrong) run on the same tracks as our freight services run. Those tracks are owned by the freight companies, not Amtrak. The tracks are old, which limits our ability to implement high speed trains, but because the tracks are owned by freight companies, freight trains will also often get priority when a freight and a passenger train need to use the same crossing. So passenger trains wind up sitting and waiting for freight trains to pass, which adds tons of time to the journey. It's a huge issue and something I almost never hear discussed (outside of railroad circles, anyway) when people talk about wanting high speed rail, despite the fact that it's a huge obstacle to making high speed rail happen on a large scale in the U.S.
I don’t have an HOA (thank goodness) but we do have a neighborhood covenant that you have to sign when you buy the house. It has a few things that I really don’t like. The main one that I hate is that you are not allowed to hang your clothes to dry outside (which is very classist).
For a supposed land of freedom, the US has some absolutely ridiculous things. I don’t think anything so crazy exists here. If you have a shit house you have a shit house. No one is going to come around and complain about their property values.
This was very interesting! I’m new to Amy but I’m in rural mainland Scotland and my experience is very different than hers in London. The south of England is very different than the rest of the U.K. Stasher bags are available in the UK. Lakeland has them.
I like how you girls seperate UK and EU, a lot of times Americans seem to think the whole of Europe is like the UK, while is really not the case. All the countries within Europe are very different, and the UK is definately not representative for all of them.And when it comes to sustainability the Scandinavian countries and Germany are much better than the UK.
I live in Scandinavia (Denmark) and from the outside everything looks very sustainable. We are on track to get 100 % green energy (I think it is around 60-70 % on average at the moment), many of our cities plan to be carbon neutral by 2030, we can bike everywhere, and there is definitely a big focus in sustainability in general. But we still manage to have one of the largest carbon footprint in the world per capita 🙈 We produce the most garbage per capita in the whole of the EU, and we eat way too much meat. Home design is very important in Scandinavia, and while that creates some beautiful countries, it also means that people often change their decor and do a lot of home renovations. That is the biggest CO2 emitter, besides food, for us in Denmark. So looks can certainly be deceiving. It may look more sustainable and “high-class” than many countries but so far we haven’t really put our foots where out mouths are. But I do think that change is coming at a rapid pace, and because we have relatively stable, small and rich countries we can change faster and more easily than some countries who struggle with other issues at the same time.
I think the same thing about the states within the US. It’s almost like each state is it’s own little country. I live in California where it’s very easy to eat plant based. I went to visit my aunt in Arizona and I was shocked how every single restaurant we went to was very meat heavy. The only non-meat options were like a tiny side salad or a side of French fries. Also things like recycling are all different between cities/states. The culture around sustainability is so different between states too.
HOA rules and expenses can vary quite a bit, even in the U.S. My husband and I are not fans of HOAs and didn’t love entering one, but the house we loved was in an HOA neighborhood and the HOA in question is fairly lax and relatively cheap. They do have a rule against owning livestock animals though. The lots in the neighborhood are frequently about an acre in size and would be perfect for small scale animal farms (like chickens or something), but you can’t do it.
That is why so many sustainable landscape promoters encourage people to get into HOA and make changes. Now more and more HOAs allow native prairie/meadow look or no mow yard, clothing rack, and living stocks. The changes come slow though.
As soon as you guys mentioned hair products, my ears perked right up!! I have curly hair (and I know that isn’t necessarily Shelb’s department 😂💖) & most times, people on sustainability journeys have straighter hair, so I always wonder what earth friendly products will be good for my curls!! Thank you! 😊 & as a fellow texture person- do you also hate jello bc 🤢🤢🤢🤮
4:11 Cat Parkour!! I love it!! In all seriousness tho’, as a person who lives in a country that is heavily influenced by both the USA and the UK, I found this to be very interesting. I live in the wilderness of the PNW (🇨🇦) and it was both shocking and interesting to note the differences between your lifestyles and experiences and that of the average Canadian. If you two ever do another vid like this one, I volunteer to sit in as the Canadian contingent and share my views, experiences, likes and dislikes. Sign me up!! 🤣 Just sayin’… d’ya know? Thanks for this awesome video, I really enjoyed it. I’ll look forward to more of these sessions in the years to come. Thanks Shelbi & Immy, much appreciated. 🌎💦Ⓜ️ary🪀
Italian here. I just wanted to point out that Europe the continent and the European Union (also called the EU) are two different things. The UK, Switzerland and Norway (and some other countries) are part of Europe whereas they aren’t part of the EU. As for Ireland, only the northern part belongs to the UK
As a plus size person living in the UK (kinda), thrifting is hard. Finding things in my size (which isn't even that big) in second hand shops, that I actually like, don't happen.
Hi I’m a plus sized person too! (In the US) and I’ve actually started shopping in men’s sections of thrift stores. I don’t know your style preferences, but I’ve always considered myself quite girly and I’ve found cute sweaters, button downs, t shirts, blazers, jeans, in mens sections of thrift stores that match my style and fit me great!
@@emilyb3875 Oh! Good tip! Where I live we don't have big places where they sell second hand clothes, unfortunately, just a few small charity shops. When I lived in London was a lot easier than here. Now that I'm pregnant is just a nightmare! Managed to get some stuff of fb marketplace, which was great, and lots of secondhand cloth nappies (that was a massive delight and relief!)
I assumed the implication was she was referring to Northern Ireland but yes sadly a lot of English people still forget/don’t realise that the Republic of Ireland is an entirely separate country (I’m English and lived in Ireland for nearly 10 years and am constantly embarrassed by my countryfolk’s lack of knowledge about this)
Someone's probably mentioned it already, but there's definitely hardiness zones in the UK lol. They're obviously not the same as the USDA zones, and there are fewer zones, but they definitely exist. I've watched Charles Dowding's gardening videos for a few years, and he mentions his location and hardiness zone in most of his videos :P
True story of an HOA in an Ohio.suburb. You weren't allowed to use any colored lights in outside lighting displays during Christmas season. Only clear or white! Even in your windows. Pretty picky!
I used to use a Diva cup. Loved it. Absolute game changer for someone with a heavy flow. Then one day, it suddenly stopped working. I thought it was the cup, and tried 4 other brands, and different shapes and sizes within those brands. Turns out, my anatomy had changed due to some medical issues and now they just don’t work for me. Believe me when I tell you how devastated I am. I’m using reusable pads and period underwear and….they’re a pain. I just ended a remote contract and I’m going back to work in a physical location and I’m DREADING dealing with reusables.
US cities used to have fairly decent layout designs and public transportation. As you can guess, a lot was torn out in favor of urban sprawl and big roads. The texas department of transportation only gets funding to put bandaids on this issue and it's a problem that will only get worse with time without individual cities taking it upon themselves to encourage a more maneuverable environment.
I really felt Emmy on the zero waste mouth products absolutely sucking. Bamboo, in my mouth, makes me reel. Tooth tabs taste like even worse tums, and the mouthwash tabs just don't do it for me. Not to mention, I'm super cavity prone and need fluoride
Speaking of urban sprawl, I'm from the Netherlands and I once had an american colleague I picked up from the airport and they were quite surprised and how quickly we went from high rise to literal farming fields. Now I realize they must've expected more areas of single family homes before we reached the actual agriculture stuff.
As an American who has been to Sweden I can attest that is one of the most surprising things in that part of the world. Here, there are just miles upon miles upon miles of single family housing developments surrounding the cites.
Super triggered by the inclusion of Ireland in the UK here guys. I know you probably don't mean to be ignorant but the whole island of Ireland is not in the UK, just the occupied 6 counties.
Yeah unfortunately a lot of English people will say Ireland but implying Northern Ireland, and a lot more don’t even know there’s a difference. It’s embarrassing. Signed, an English person who lived in Ireland for a long time (I will forever apologise for my countryfolk)
Its so funny that Immy says that everything in the states is so huge but when I went to the UK, I thought the shops were huge! Compared to South Africa, everything is gigantic!
I love you both, so having you together is fab! Also, I grew up in the US, but now live in the UK, and most of those differences are spot on. However, Immy, here in Liverpool, if I want soil or compost, it's like what Shelby described--a truck is gonna come and dump it in my driveway. Not psyched, since I killed off my lawn to plant a wildflower patch that we'll slooooowly convert into a permaculture food forest. Anyway, *great* vid!
It's so weird because if you move over an island to northern Ireland, where I live instead of it taking me 45 minutes by car to get to work in the morning it would take 3.5hrs by bus & train and I would be an hour late...
Immy, you should host an event in DC like Shelbi did next time you’re here! I bet I’m not the only one who’d love to meet you. Also I lived in Texas before moving here and you’re both making me miss HEB.
Super interesting discussion - I learned a lot! Two tiny comments on grocery stores... Anecdotal evidence from my family members seems to suggest that small grocers are disappearing in the UK in favor of large chains (Sainsbury's, Morrisons, etc.), especially in cities, but I don't have any real data to back this up. I just don't know anyone who still goes to a local greengrocer anymore. Also, in my experience, chain grocery stores (north of England) have EVERYTHING packaged in plastic, much more so than large Midwestern chains in the US. This is not to give credit to the Midwest (we still have a horrible plastic problem) but the number of wildly unnecessary uses of plastic in Sainsbury's always blows me away. - from a dual citizen who resides in the U.S.
And yes everything is packaged in plastic here because we depend on imports so much. Some supermarkets are phasing it out and certain things you can find unpackaged (root veg, broccoli etc) but things like berries and greens are always in plastic unless you go to a market which is very rare - we don’t really grow berries here so blueberries for example are usually imported from places like Morocco
I was thinking that some of the differences hark back to the war. Sustainability and make do and mend were so ingrained in British mindset during and after the war; and the USA was seen as full of modern conveniences and that people simply hadn’t had access to for years. Like the stories of the US GIs bringing over chocolate and nylons (stockings). However I was watching a documentary about food desert s and this seems to be increasing in the UK. Like most of our local/convenience stores don’t have fresh proper food, it’s all packaged or junk or like breakfast food unless it’s in a particularly ethnic diverse area.
This was really interesting! Reading is a huge part of my life. I typically read fiction (fantasy), but I have gotten in to reading some nonfiction on topics that interest me.
I also grew up in Texas and live in San Antonio! Unfortunately, the corporations here (esp. big oil & gas, airlines) have lobbied the idea of high speed trains that connect our major cities out of existence. San Antonio recently had a bond project (approved by over 70% of voters!) to make a major road here more walkable and pedestrian-friendly, but our governor decided that it was way more important to keep cars on the road and effectively killed the initiative. :(
this was such a lovely video! so nice to be reminded that there are lots of different routes to a more sustainable life, especially when social media really contorts that sometimes. love to you both 🤍
I’m reading the book “Happy City” by Charles Montgomery which may be of interest to anyone interested in urban design and I’m learning how the design shifted from being about the natural movements of people to all about private vehicles and how city zoning prevents some of the natural, logical uses of space and lots more- and it’s really interesting:). Wonder if there is an audio book for it?
Someone needs to make a "sustainable, but you're poor": where you're a student who lives in a small apartment who takes buses and can't afford meat XD (i.e. my life)
I would love to know the difference between regions in the USA! Like it’s very different in a lot of situations for me in Maine just because everything is very accessible! BUT being from Southern VA it is SO HARD to live sustainable and environmentally friendly and the policies are SO DIFFERENT. I love this type of video, it is so eye opening to see how different everyone’s environmental journeys can be! 💞👩🌾🌎
Ooh, this was a lovely collab! It is interesting to learn the differences. Also, I wasn't aware of certain US homes creating rules for your home. Interesting.
We are talking going across half the country. The US is kinda big. You have to look at it on a state by state kinda thing. Of course it's gonna take 19 hours. How many hours from the UK to Italy?
i've been following Immy for a while, but didn't know she hated zero-waste toothcare products! How come? Is the quality not good enough? Or maybe there's another path to be sustainable about it?
