Kaitlyn Gough considers Germany's lack of gas stations and abundance of biking, walking and electric charging stations.
Before coming to Germany, I never considered the impact of the number of times I drove my car each day. I always had to get from point A to point B and traveling by car seemed to be the most convenient way to do so, regardless of the cost to the planet. In Germany, most people walk, bike, and use public transportation such as trams and trains. Just going along the streets in Germany, you will see numerous people from ages 8 to 80 riding bikes to get places. As a young adult myself, I found this shocking and inspiring that people four times my age were choosing to ride their bikes over driving a car to help the environment. If they can do it, why can’t I? More importantly, why haven’t I have been doing this all long?
After experiencing Germany’s different modes of transportation for two weeks, I realized that I actually enjoyed walking and taking trains to get places more than I thought I would. It was nice to know that this simple decision of not driving a car to get places would have a greater positive impact on the environment by lessening greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, I was very impressed by Germany’s influence on sustainable mobility as well as their many electric car charging stations throughout the city. In the future, I plan to integrate more sustainable modes of transportation into my life and try to always put the environment’s needs before my own.
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