Today’s visit of Hydra was one of my favorite excursions so far. I really enjoyed visiting a smaller island, especially one without cars. Swimming in the water was one of my favorite parts of the day, as I liked that it wasn’t a traditional beach. In addition, we were able to ride donkeys, shop, and explore the island. For my interview, I interviewed Vaggelis, who was our server at lunch. He informed me that at the restaurant they recycle all of their glass, paper, and plastic problems and try to reuse packaging material. In addition, they take steps to reduce their plastic consumption by providing paper straws.

The company I researched was Eurobank, which is a European based company. The vision of the company is to be the most people-centric bank in Greek. I liked how much the company emphasized solidarity within their company culture and then throughout their service to customers. In addition to supporting Greek entrepreneurship, they have special investments in developing their environmental sustainability. What stood out to me the most was the various programs they participate in. For instance, in 2020 they joined the Sustainable Greece 2020, which raise awareness for local sustainability and responsible business and social practices.

Did not have my phone to photograph dinner but I am including a picture from our meal at Hydra.

The article “Industrial symbiosis in Greece” was most interesting to me, as I enjoyed the way the paper was structured and showed how companies created multilevel eco-industrial networks to combat the creation of waste at the source. Industrial Symbiosis is the relationship between 2 or more firms that exchange their waste, whether that be materials, energy, or waste. To fully understand the factors that play a role, they are divided into economic, environment (physical), and social factors. This way we are able to see what is causing the most damage. Todays tour was about an hour outside of Athens on the coast in Sounio. We got to visit Poseidons temple, which is an Ancient Greek temple dedicated to the Greek god of Poseidon. My favorite part of this tour was being able to see the water behind the temple. It reminded me a lot of the acropolis, as well. 

Two things that got me out of my comfort zone this trip was talking to locals that I met and taking the public transportation. Talking to locals can seem intimidating at first, especially not knowing if they speak English and not wanting to be disrespectful either. I haven’t had one bad experience though, and everyone I met has been super friendly and outgoing. Taking public transportation was interesting to figure out as a group especially with the signs being in Greek and remembering the correct train station name and bus stop number. Today, I learned about Walmart’s ethical scandal that I had no prior knowledge about. Walmart has been accused of violating a variety of workers rights, from underpaying foreign workers and denying over time pay. There has even been malpractice lawsuits within the company.