From what I could see, European countries were way ahead of the United States in green initiatives.

Even in the airports, there were separate bins for recyclables. There were notices in restrooms to conserve water; every toilet had double flushes (for big flushes and little flushes); sink faucets shut off automatically when hands were removed and/or were timed for shut off.

The hotel room required the key card in a slot on the wall for room lighting to be activated. Without the key card lights remained on for only a few minutes. You wouldn't be able to leave the lights on when leaving the room unless you forgot the card and locked yourself out.

And so on and so forth. Green awareness was much more integrated into everyday life than it is here and I hope we catch up. I didn't hear or read any mewling about how green initiatives would destroy the economy.

The experience made me much more aware of our own profligate wastefulness and how far we have to go in caring for the earth and its resources.