Industrial symbiosis is the process of a business forming relationships between two or more associates to exchange waste in order to reduce, reuse, and recycle the waste. This waste is used to create their products and when companies have this kind of relationship an industrial ecosystem is formed. Industrial ecosystems have two groups, an eco industrial park and an eco industrial network. This reading discusses multiple case studies concerning this in Greece. 445 case studies, both big and small businesses, were identified concerning industrial symbiosis in 16 eco industrial networks. A total of 45 waste types were discovered, which contained energy exchange and material resource exchange. All of these businesses were found throughout Greece, materials were transported by either trucks or ships if they were being shipped abroad. Waste is separated into thermal energy, fuels, metals, plastics, chemicals, minerals, and organics. Waste compatibility is a major factor that concerns the physical characteristics of waste which allows it to be used as it is. An example would be waste from agricultural activities that can be used in a variety of different other rural activities. This means agricultural wastes are very compatible and are often exchanged at the smaller spatial scale.  According to the research there are 30 established industrial parks in Greece while 24 are still under construction. Many of the cases are from smaller spatial scales, IP and locals. Waste has been shipped by boat to other countries including Italy, Spain, Russia and China. Transporting waste by boat is cheap, meaning that it is still profitable to transport. Econ industrial Network of aluminum is a spatial allocation of companies  at the Ip scale in Greece. Typically the alumina waste is exchanged on a national scale. However the end of life product is exchanged at a global scale.

Eco-innovation refers to any innovation that limits the use of natural resources and reduces the exposure of harmful substances into the environment within a whole life-cycle. Since Greece has multiple islands it is important to monitor climate changes and intensive ecosystem pollution because these environmental issues will have a greater impact. This is why Greece has focused on eco innovations and renewable energies. Solar, wind, and hydropower are a few renewable energies sources that have been implemented. While Greece does use these renewable energies, in 2018 it only scored 75 on a EU average of 100 in terms of eco-innovation performance. The country continues to reach the EU’s average for eco-innovation performances, which is a score of 82. I was quite surprised to learn this as I saw multiple solar panels on buildings as well as multiple wind turbines on different islands I traveled to in Greece. This made me think that they were a more renewable energy friendly country. However Greece was ranked 25th overall globally on the environmental performance index. The EPI states that the country’s air quality, fish stocks and GHG emissions intensity are all averagely ranked. Greece is faced with many challenges including destruction of coastal zones, loss of biodiversity in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, transportation air emissions, electricity power stations, and overexploitation of its water resources. The region of Thessaly is the main area where overexploitation of groundwater resources occur. Within Thessaly region high levels of energy and water are used for agricultural irrigation. Although there are many groundwater irrigation systems that run illegally and are not accounted for. I was surprised to learn that the bathing water in Greece was assessed as excellent. I just assumed since you can’t drink the tap water there that meant the water quality was poor. Waste is a major issue for Greece, there are many illegal landfills as well as illegal metal foundries that can be found within the country. However by reducing the illegal landfills there are still no proper facilities to remove the hazardous wastes. Personally I was unaware of how big the waste issue was in Greece. I read about how hydra has a major problem with waste and how they do not properly dispose of it. They burn the waste which releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere, polluting it. However I thought this was an issue only Hydra was facing, not the entire country.

Hydra is a tiny Greek Island with beautiful hillsides and a limestone paved port at the bottom. When we visited Hydra I was amazed at how small the Island was and not filled with as many tourists. It was a quiet town with a homey feeling and it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. However after visiting I was left wondering how the island operates. Are there schools, is housing affordable and what is it like during the off season? Do people just live there during the summer and leave for the off season? Considering the island is so small it makes it difficult for them to obtain everyday essentials like electricity, transportation, ect. Transportation is limited at Hydra, there are no airports and the only way to get around is by donkey, mule, or water taxis. There are no cars that run on the island which was interesting to learn. I was able to ride a donkey with a few friends on our day trip, experiencing how the locals get around. Since everything is centered by the port it would seem excessive to have cars driving on the island. However I found out that having no cars run has led to a trash problem. There are only two trash trucks that take trash to be burned. The trash buildup is several months behind and the toxins from burning the trash are being released into the air. Since it can not be reached by car, everything is brought in my boat. Even their ice is brought in by boat which in reality running boats all the time is not sustainable. Along with this sewage water is being dumped into the ocean every night. Which freaks me out considering I was swimming all day in that water when we visited. All the power runs from an outside source which could result in a suffering shutdown for the whole island. There are no huge hotels and restaurants/bars are family run. This means that their economy is heavily reliant on tourism. However this leads me to wonder how they survive in the off seasons when tourism is low. Are they truly making enough during the summer to stay afloat? The breathtaking beaches and traditional feel to the island is distracting to how unsustainable the Island actually is.

When it comes to sustainability issues, in the past environmentalists, governments, and businesses have focused on reduce-reuse-recycle. However the present shows this is not the most effective sustainable approach. The results for only focusing on reduce-reuse-recycle have shifted environmentalists to priorities a circular economy instead. Essentially, a circular economy is an industrial system that is purposefully designed to be restorative. Companies need to be focusing on having more sustainable procedures, instead of only thinking about the end result. Typically, companies have a more linear process. This entails a take-make-consume-throw away procedure. This is not sustainable  because when the product has been used and the consumer is done it ends up in a landfill typically. Unlike a linear economy, a circular economy is closed. This means waste is reduced as little as possible because anything that is produced is transferred and used somewhere else. This is a continuous pattern. The release of greenhouse gasses, all pollution and traffic congestion are all factored out in a circular economy. The products are  designed to be durable, resued, remanufactured, and recycled. This helps to keep the products circulating as long as they possibly can to be the most sustainably effective. A circular economy encourages products that can be circulating instead of just using them all up. Along with this, fossil fuels and non-renewable energy are avoided. Instead a circular economy reaches towards using and preserving renewable resources. Valuable nutrients are returned back to the soil to improve the environment. The concept of a circular economy is necessary as we progress as a society. If we continue using the linear economy, resources will become very limited and the consequence of our actions will affect future generations. As the world population continues to grow we need to be more considerate of the environment and how our actions will affect it. Studies show that we are throwing away resources that could be remanufactured at an alarming rate. The United Nations has informed us that “global resource extraction has more than tripled since 1970, over 90% of raw materials are not reused.” A circular economy is not only beneficial to the environment but also the consumers and economy. For consumers they are provided with high quality sustainable services, reduce ownership costs, and improve health. This system boosts economic growth, reduces cost of materials, and creates new jobs. Overall a circular economy is the future for companies and needs to be implemented faster.

I found listening to the speakers at the embassy and the ACG office of sustainability very interesting. All the speakers gave great advice for entering the real world after college and were insightful in how to become a diplomat. I enjoyed how the diplomat was relatable about her journey of achieving the position she has now. Considering I still do not know exactly what I want to do yet, it was relieving to hear that she dealt with the same feelings when she was my age. As I enter my junior year of college, I feel I need to start getting ahead on my plans for after college. This has been stressing me out a lot lately but after hearing her presentation I feel like I can slow down because I have time.  When we asked her for advice on entering the business world after college she replied with just to never stop giving up on yourself and work hard. This seemed like a basic and cliche answer. However when she gave examples of how this advice applied to her work life, I truly believed her. In addition, she mentioned that when it comes to getting a job, it’s all about who you know. She discussed how she used to message everyone and anyone she knew to help get herself an internship. The speaker explained that when reaching out to people she was interested in working for, she would find one thing she had in common with them. Once she found one thing, even if it was something really random she would open with that in her message. I felt this technique seemed a little strange, but when she explained how it really worked multiple times I was shocked. I think when it comes time for me to get an internship/job I will try this out for myself. I am glad I got to learn more about her job as I was not very familiar with her duties before. It seemed like there were multiple benefits that came with her job. I think if I ever wanted to work abroad I would consider doing something similar.