Greening Greece

Travelling to a Greek island to investigate at close range the green credentials of this beautiful country is a lot to ask, but as roving reporter for the BGI I'm never one to shirk my duties...

...Well OK, even I couldn't manage to justify a 12-hour trip involving car, plane, bus, ferry and car in the pursuit of an article on any aspect of being green. But my inlaws have lived on the gorgeous island of Aegina for many years and wanted to celebrate their Golden Wedding with their family and friends, and this would be my first flight for 20 years, so I didn't feel too guilty about my road-, air- and sea-miles. While I was there, however, I did manage to squeeze in a little research between watching the house martins swoop to take insects from inches above the pool, sampling the local delicacies (I admit I gave the octopus a miss...) and learning to dance Greek-style (one, two, three, kick, kick, one...) to bouzouki music.

Food

First, and deservedly so, how does Greek food compare to what English shops and restaurants have to offer? The Greeks love fresh food, simply cooked. They don't understand why we would want to ‘mess around' with our food. They also only eat what is in season, so you won't find much imported fresh food. Typical traditional taverna fare is also very varied and healthy with plenty of salad and freshly cooked vegetables alongside simply cooked meat and, as to be expected on an island, fish and seafood. It's true that a lot of olive oil and deep-frying is involved but this is more than compensated for by the relative lack of fatty dairy products, rich sauces and heavy puddings (I shall gloss over the fried cheese, but it was lovely...).

At home, Greeks tend to grill most of their food, either over a barbecue or in the fireplace indoors. They seem to prefer this to using their electric ovens, using them only occasionally for slow roasts and casseroles.

Water

The quality of tap water in Greece varies. As a general rule, most water on the mainland is safe to drink, but that on the islands can be more variable. Most tourists play safe and drink only bottled water which is understandable as no one wants to have their holiday ruined by a tummy bug. This clearly has an enormous environmental impact, both in terms of the huge amount of waste this generates (one billion plastic water bottles are thrown away each year) and the cost of making, filling and transporting the bottles. However, all bottled water now has to be contained in recyclable plastic or glass.

Some islands have limited natural water so have to ship it in from the mainland or other islands, again at huge environmental as well as financial cost. Some are considering installing desalination plants as increased tourism leads to increased demand, particularly in the summer months.

Recycling

Greece is at the bottom of the league table when it comes to percentage of waste recycled. In 2006, for instance, it recycled just 13% of its total waste compared to a European average of 41%. According to Philip Kirkitsos of the Ecological Recycling Society in Athens, Greece is at least 15 years behind the rest of the EU in almost all areas of recycling. Although almost one fifth of the waste produced in Greece is plastic, only 1% of this is recycled. Athens in fact has what is believed to be Europe's largest recycling plant. Ironically, however, it is not functional - it is positioned next to the landfill site and was badly damaged when a mountain of rubbish collapsed onto it.

However, things are now changing, thanks in part to EU legislation. Households have been issued with free bags in which to put glass, plastic, cardboard, aluminum (e.g. drink cans), any wrappings carrying the recycling symbol, and 'tetrapack' type cartons. All go into the same bin with no further sorting by the general public. These big wheelie bins are situated conveniently, within 100 metres or so of every house, and while the grey ones for non-recycling are emptied daily (including Sundays and Bank Holidays), the recycling bins are emptied weekly at the moment; this will have to be more frequent soon as they now fill up fast!

Renewable energy

Greece is blessed with plentiful sunshine, strong winds and powerful rivers. This should provide wonderful opportunities for renewable energy schemes, but until now little has been done to harness these resources. Greece lags well behind other European countries in this respect, with only 8% of its energy coming from renewable sources. In 2008 it was suspended from the Kyoto Protocol's ‘flexible mechanisms' after violating rules on reporting greenhouse gas emissions.

That, however, looks set to change. A new hydroelectric plant has recently been inaugurated in central Greece, and there are plans to make Ai Stratis, an island in the northern Aegean, energy self-sufficient by using wind and solar power, and biomass. There are currently over 1,000 wind turbines in the country, and this is set to double by the end of the year. There are also plans to build what would be one of the largest solar power plants in the world, producing 50MW, which is double the current total solar power output in Greece.

Greece has pledged to generate 20% of its energy from renewables by 2020. The government is striving to reduce bureaucratic and financial obstacles and boost demand, for instance by lifting of fuel taxes on biofuels. Greece has now been readmitted to the Kyoto mechanisms, and will be focusing on meeting the obligations of the Kyoto Protocol.

Solar heating water systems are everywhere in Greece. Virtually all hotels, most businesses, and very many private households now use roof panels for their hot water requirements. This was encouraged by the Greek government some years ago via tax concessions. A recent similar move, part funded by the EU, is a 'cash-back' scheme to encourage people to replace their old air-con units with new 'environmentally friendly' inverter units, up to two per household and up to €500 per unit. Another point of interest is the charging system for electricity. The first 833 units are charged at 0.876 cents per unit, next 833 units at 0.112 cents, but anything over this is 0.137 cents per unit, so encouraging people to switch off, rather than leave appliances on standby.

Education

The younger Greeks are much more aware of 'green issues' than their parents, thanks mainly to the schools. At a recent end-of-term show at a school on Aegina, 5- to 11-year-olds put on a series of sketches illustrating items for recycling, taking your picnic rubbish back home, keeping beaches and the sea clean, etc. - messages that their parents will doubtless pick up on.

Transport

Athens taxis and most buses are now powered by gas rather than petrol or diesel. There's also an incentive to scrap your old car and buy new, as there is in most of Europe at the moment, though the green benefits of this are debatable. The very modern public transport tram system introduced before the Athens Olympics in 2004 seems to be doing really well. Being so spread out and with so many islands to service, Greece will always need ferries and domestic flights but, as the operators update their fleets, aircraft, schedules and systems for their own economic survival reasons, some reduction in this source of pollution is to be expected.

Overall, when it comes to being green, Greece is playing catch-up with the rest of Europe. However, there is clear political will to move forward, which is translating into real change and feeding down to individuals. Although there is rising unemployment in the country, Greenpeace Greece claim that developing green industries could create between 256,000 and 403,500 jobs by 2020, which must be a major motivator for change. So let's crack open a bottle of ouzo and drink to a gorgeous greener Greece. Yiamas!

The water quality seemed pretty good to me!

Judy