My taxi rolled up to the curb a few buildings away from 83 Quay in Haymarket, Sydney Australia. Still disoriented from the 13 hour and 45 minute flight from SFO, the damp 95 degree heat and the dizzying ride on the left side of the road, I walked into the Urbanest Student Accommodation— an apartment style building for students from US universities like NYU studying abroad as well as students studying at nearby Sydney universities. I was greeted by a very friendly combination of Urbanest and NYU Sydney staff… and all the disposable plastic water bottles my heart desired. Although my reusable NYUGREeN water bottle had only a sip of warm water left in it, I resisted the urge to take the chilled plastic bottles I was offered each time it became obvious that the foreign heat was taking a toll on me.

Plastic and waste

When I finally got up to my room, I found that there was yet another plastic water bottle sitting on my desk.The mop bucket was the best I could do without a real recycling bin in the kitchen. There was no information about recycling in the building or any signs indicating nearby bins. I found out shortly after that there is in fact a recycling bin in the building, but without any encouragement from the staff or general information about recycling in the building along with the single waste bin in each kitchen, it seems unlikely that recycling is regular behavior at Urbanest. At the Science House, where classes are held, there are clearly marked trash and recycling bins in the Student Center, however, they aren’t advertised during orientation.

This made me wonder about waste management throughout the city. Since my arrival in Sydney a few short weeks ago, I have made some observations about waste. There are trash cans, many labeled “temporary street litter bin” around the city but not on every street corner as you see in New York. The streets are also remarkably clean in comparison. There are very few public recycling bins scattered throughout the city. The only place I have yet to see clearly labeled bins for various kinds of waste is in some of the shopping centers and along the sidewalk by Bondi Beach. Bondi is also the first place I have seen with signs encouraging recycling at a clearly marked “Littering and Recycling Station”. The beaches themselves are very clean. Composting appears to be very rare; I’ve only seen one set of waste bins, in a shopping center, that included organic waste alongside landfill and recycling.

Later in the week, as students filled up their shopping carts at Target with “necessities” for the semester, I tried to minimize the contents of my own cart. One thing I left out was a cup for my toothbrush. Instead I cut off the top of one of the many “Urbanest” labeled plastic water bottles overflowing my makeshift mop bucket recycling bin, and turned it into a very handy toothbrush holder.

Energy

We were debriefed on the details of the Urbanest suite which included a self regulated air conditioner in each room that turned off on its own every hour during the day. The outlets all have on/off switches so you can conserve energy while appliances are plugged in.

Food

My grocery shopping experience has been one of mixed emotions. I have so far stuck to the Woolworths down the street from Urbanest. Much of the produce is labeled “Australian grown.” However, Australia is a huge continent, and specific regions of origin are not indicated on produce labels.There are also few organic options. During my first check out I was shocked to find out that they only provide plastic grocery bags; no paper option. Luckily I brought a couple of my own reusable shopping bags.

Transportation

As an outsider, it seems as though Sydney has relatively efficient and popular public transportation system. It’s as simple as filling up your OPAL card (a handy card that can be used for buses, ferries, and trains). However, some locals don’t share the same positive opinion about limited, overcrowded buses with infrequent stops. It is also fairly convenient to walk to and from many places and I have noticed some familiar faces on the streets on my walk to school.

Pollution

The Sydney Harbor is filled with massive cruise ships, ferries, and boats making the pollution comparable to that in the Hudson River. It’s definitely not the place to take a dip on a humid, sunny day.  

Of course there is the unavoidable issue of the thinning ozone layer over Australia which had lead to an extremely hot sun and harmful UV rays. I was one of many students who showed up to the first day of class still rosy and stinging from a beach trip the previous weekend. Though there have been some extremely hot days and nights since my arrival, evidently some of the hottest in history, there have also been a fair share of rainy days here. In other words the weather is all out of whack and it’s clear that climate change is a major culprit.

I came to the city of Sydney with little to no prior knowledge about the sustainability efforts or environmental issues across Australia. It has been interesting to note where the people of Sydney demonstrate efforts to live sustainability and where those efforts are lacking. As my semester continues, I hope to further explore the range of environmental issues that Australia is faced with, from pollution, to reliance on coal and management of “pest” species. Australia is not the koala filled wildlife sanctuary I had made it out to be! I look forward to learning more about sustainability in Sydney and discovering whether or not my first impressions hold true!