My past two months in fast-forward: Running around in Bern, attending an environmental show in Tokyo and going sight-seeing in Istanbul

Location: Bern, Switzerland; Tokyo, Japan; Istanbul, Turkey

Whoever thought that a teddy bear’s life is about as exciting as watching paint dry, thought wrong. Specifically, if you read through the next few lines.

Over the past two months I was barely at home and pretty much got used to making me comfortable in different types of travelling bags. In addition to learning how to sleep in suitcases during long flight hours, I learned how to say “thank you very much” in Japanese and Turkish, and I managed to overcome my weaker self by taking part in the annual fun run in Switzerland, the Grand Prix of Bern

 

In keeping with the motto “business before pleasure”, the first stage of my partial round-the-world-trip required me run 10 miles across bridges, through forests and the historic city of Bern. Even though it was anything but easy, I just kept running. The atmosphere was full of joy and ambition which helped me keep until I crossed the finishing line. It felt amazing being part of this event and I can only recommend it to anyone looking for a personal challenge. This event is also perfectly summed up here.

The second stage of my journey involved me getting on a plane to Tokyo. There I spend my time at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition venue and supported a company’s exhibition team by trying to catch the attention of exhibitors. In most cases this worked well. Once I was even snatched by the event’s mascot which was very keen on getting a picture with me. Unfortunately, during my stay in Japan I didn’t really have the chance to get to know the city and to learn about its sights and interesting places. After about a week, I had to get back into the suitcase and make my way home.

 

Thankfully, in the third and final stage of my journey I had a little more time to explore my new “home for a week” a bit further. Istanbul, Turkey is a very beautiful city and surprisingly clean, at least in the areas I had the chance to glimpse at. Even though I only had one day for sightseeing as I was busy with another environmental show for the rest of the week, I managed to look at the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque), walked through the big bazaar and got the tram and the second oldest underground tram in the world to the other part of the town where Gezi Park and Taksim Square are located. However, one day or even a period one week is by far not enough time to explore Istanbul. Well, maybe I’ll take part at another trade show in Istanbul next year.

Thank you!

Teşekkür ederim!

Arigatō gozaimasu!

Yours August

Exploring Lyon’s new tram line

Location: Lyon, France

My dearest readers, I hope you’ve had fantastic New Year’s Eve and you’ll have a promising start to the year 2013! 

I know it’s been a while since my last post but I’ve been incredibly busy working on a project which meant that I didn’t have much time to travel at all. Though, at the end of November last year I actually managed to leave said project alone for a week and made my way to Lyon, France by car. I’m aware that driving is not the most environmentally-friendly way to get around, but since I helped out preparing the trade show presence for a company exhibiting at the POLLUTEC 2012, I was not the only one that needed carrying across the whole country of Germany…  There was also a bulk of goods required for equipping and decorating the exhibition space travelling alongside me. After nine hours of being comfortably seated next to a decorative flower-box, three glass vases and numerous boxes full of company handouts in different languages, we arrived in Lyon.

Just a few weeks prior to the POLLUTEC trade show on November 17th, a new tram route (T5) was opened, connecting Grange Blanche Station and the exhibition centre. A tram journey from the exhibition centre to the centre of Lyon takes about 30 to 45 minutes and includes one change. This really makes it easier and more convenient for exhibitors and visitors of trade shows to get to the fair ground from the city centre of Lyon. It certainly worked for us! Besides using it for our daily trip to the exhibition ground we got on it to reach the very gorgeous city centre of Lyon, which is where the following pictures of me where captured.

 

 

Just wondering, since we took the tram every day, maybe this can make up for the many kilometres covered by car at least to a small extent, no?

Hope to see you again next time.

Yours August

Being underground in Tokyo

Location: Tokyo, Japan

“If you don’t have a local person or someone who knows their way around to guide you, you’ll most certainly get lost.” This is pretty much the first thing (non-Japanese) people will tell you after their stay in Tokyo. Further, this turns out to be pretty much the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I‘m recalling that one moment in Tokyo when I desperately tried to figure out where I am and how I’m going to get where I’m supposed to be. It goes without saying that not speaking Japanese, doesn’t help to ease the situation either. Next time, I’ll bear the wise words of returning Tokyo visitors in mind before walking off on my own in the Japanese capital. I really can only agree with them.

However, this post is not supposed to be (entirely) about my lack of direction, but primarily about one of the things that fascinated me most about Tokyo: the transportation system, more precisely the metro or subway. I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures: crammed cabins and more people squashing in as supervisors are trying to push the crowd further back from the doors in order for them to close properly. It’s not just pictures, it’s real. On average, more than 6.33 million people use the subway routes of one of Tokyo’s major subway companies every day. Just a reminder, more than 13 million people live in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA). Now, this would mean that nearly half of Tokyo’s population uses the rail system (of one transport company!) on a daily basis. Naturally, during commuting time, subways are incredibly crowded. Once I actually happened to get on a subway during working hours and I was really surprised about how empty it was. I assume only a handful of passengers that use the underground every day have ever actually had a chance to sit down.

Nevertheless, the public transport system in Tokyo is very accessible. In fact, it is considered to be one of the most highly developed transport systems in the world. Moreover, as the urban transport primarily based on rails (e.g. subway), it is also one of the most environmentally friendly ways to get around.

See you next time!
Yours August

 

Heading through Toronto in a rental car without SAT NAV

Location: Toronto & Montréal, Canada

Since my travel schedule for the past two months was crammed with exciting places to visit (Canada, Japan and China), I just didn’t have a chance to sit down and post something on online my travel diary. Please bear with me. Today though I managed to make some time and of course I don’t want to keep all the things I’ve seen and learned to myself. You know me, I’m happy to share some information. In case you are interested in taking me places, just let me know (email to 
info@aut-chemnitz.de).

At the end of June I made my way to Canada, more precisely to Toronto and Montréal. In Toronto there were at least two things I’ve learned: Firstly, I figured out that either my sense of orientation isn’t as bad after all or the infrastructure and ways to get around in Toronto are easy to grasp. I assume the latter is probably more likely. ;-) This insight was actually down to the fact that the car I had rented didn’t have SAT NAV which required me to follow road signs and pixelated maps from the internet but which gave me the chance to take notice of my environment and to see where I’m actually going. Secondly, and more importantly, I found out that there is not one general rule on waste treatment set out by the federal government in Canada. In fact, the ways rubbish and scrap are handled differ both across and within the different states of Canada and are down to state governments and individual municipalities.

Arguably, this way of dealing with waste management has one crucial advantage. Since states and local authorities do not depend upon national guidelines stringently telling them how to deal with their waste, space is made for the development and realisation of creative and environmentally-friendly ideas for waste management. On this note, the likelihood (and willingness) to try out new things increases, which raises the chances of those in charge to turn to more innovative and progressive solutions and technologies. On the other hand, the lack of a standard legislation on waste disposal and recycling that applies to all states of Canada may cause the development of significant contrasts across and within the states. For instance, whereas one municipality may ambitiously separate collected residential waste according to material type for the purpose of recycling and a closed substance waste management, another municipality may not see a need for removing valuable resources from the mix and, therefore, has its waste piles shipped to landfill sites based in a different country.

Which waste management strategies will turn out to be the most effective, financially viable and environmentally-friendly remains to be seen. Though, at the end of the day, the issue of waste production and disposal is the same for every municipality and state in Canada (and the world for that matter). If there ever is one optimal solution for this issue that further meets all the attributes listed above, perhaps there is a chance to spread the word across the borders of municipalities, states, countries and continents.

See you next month! 

Yours, August

 

The Most Beautiful (and Environmentally-Friendly) 10 Miles in the World

Location: Bern, Switzerland

On Saturday, May 12th 2012, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to run my heart out as I saw more than 25,000 people put on their running shoes and start covering a distance which is also referred to as the 10 most beautiful miles in the world. The course is weaving through the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bern and guides the runners past historic buildings, along beautiful and narrow alleys and over bridges connecting the historic and the modern part of the Swiss capital which are naturally divided by the river Aare. Besides being not the easiest track to run along due to its gradually ascending and sloping hills, the course is as scenic and diversified as it can get which annually attracts thousands of visitors from Switzerland, Europe and the world and invites them to take part in the Grand Prix of Bern.

Though the Grand Prix may represent a personal challenge for many participating runners, it is at the same time an environmental challenge for the organisers of the event who seek to keep the negative impact on the environment in both the event’s administrative and marketing processes and during the main event to a minimum. In fact, as part of a study on different major events in Switzerland which was conducted by the WWF in 2009 and which focused on the organisers’ efforts to be environmentally-friendly, the Grand Prix in Bern was considered to have a great potential to become an ecological champion like its counterpart the Lucerne Marathon. This is mainly down to its ambitious efforts in the areas of waste generation and recycling, catering, traffic, energy demand/consumption and overall management.

Did you know that in 2009 about 25,000 fair-trade bananas were given to the participants of the Grand Prix in Bern? Same this year. At the meeting point at the finishing line of the course there where numerous shopping carts full of bananas waiting for the runners. At the end of the day, all that was left were loads banana peels which piled up in bins, on tables and on the ground and which later made their way to a biogas plant in order to be converted to energy. 

Touching Wood

Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

 Holidays just go by way too quickly… Soon after my short break in Thuringia, Germany, I was asked to join a colleague of mine on his business trip to Slovakia. Instead of exploring the sights of the country’s capital, such as Bratislava Castle or the Primatial Palace, we were more interested in visiting a biomass plant.

In line with EU norms and increasing costs for fossil fuels, such as coal, Slovakia’s attention to energy supply and consumption recently shifted from coal-based energy towards bio fuels such as biomass. Today, the share of biomass in the annual consumption of primary energy sources in Slovakia ranges between 1.0 and 1.5 percent. It is not rocket science to find out what type of biomass is used if one considers that more than 40 percent of the Slovak territory is covered by forests. Logically, the use of wood as an energy carrier in biomass plants seems like a viable option.

 

However, as prices for wood are gradually going up, several municipalities in the country have become fed up with their dependency upon fluctuating resource prices and have decided to focus on the use and production of refuse derived fuels (RDF) from waste. Subsequently, ideas were collected, experts were consulted and a final plan was developed in to achieve this goal. In line with this plan, three new RDF plants are proposed to be built and two existing biomass plants are scheduled to be retrofitted in order to become suitable for the use of RDF generated by a plant which will be supplied by a plant manufacturer from Germany. If this project is realised successfully, it will not only save money but also many trees. Touch wood.

Holiday, at last!

Location: Rennsteig, Germany

So far, my (business) trips have taken me to places all over the world, far away from home. Therefore, when I had a couple of days off a few weeks ago, I decided to spend some time in a place in Germany that’s quite close to home. I joined a small family with a baby boy for their trip to Thuringia, more precisely to the famous hiking and cycling trail Rennsteig. The 195 km trail stretches from the town Hörschel near Eisenach through the Thuringian Forest Nature Park and the Slate Mountains to Blankenstein. There used to be a saying that a true rambler takes a stone from the river Werra at the beginning of the trail, carries it in its pocket to the end of the trail and throws it into the river Saale. 

Even though I didn’t quite manage to walk the Rennsteig all the way from the beginning to the end (not that I tried hard enough) and I ended up taking my stone home with me, I had a really amazing time. Sometimes the good really is so close. You must not think that this might stop me from going out to see places… 

This year, I’m likely to pay a visit to at least the following countries:

England

Switzerland

Canada

France 

If you wish to meet me at any of these places or somewhere else, just let me know. I’m always up for travelling. :-)