One thing that stood out the most to me in this article was how in 2019, Greece showed a score of 75 on the Eco-Innovation Index. The article stated Greece is slowly but surely getting closer to the EU average, where it is only seven places behind their average. Based on this information, it is easy to see that compared to other countries in the European Union, in terms of eco-innovation, Greece is falling relatively behind. It seemed to me that Greece is very vulnerable to heavily weighted issues such as climate change and pollution. With most of the land of Greece, being on an island, it has been shown to be more susceptible to more risk rather than other countries. This could be due to the fact that there is more exposure to poor weather and relatively low-tide coasts. However, despite this challenge, Greece has held a great advantage of many renewable resources in their land that help them push towards their sustainability.

In recent years, Greece has been promoting air quality, as well as promoting a strong emphasis on savoring renewable resources and remaining energy efficient, which are top priorities within Greek policies. There has also been much progress shown toward enabling solar energy throughout the country. Not only do these governmental policies help Greece to maintain its sustainability, but the research programs implemented have also contributed a significant amount, as well. These research programs are done by several university programs to help navigate how to handle these sustainability issues and help guide for ways of improvement. Fortunately, with Greece being part of the European Union, they are able to use the funds that come from the EU to contribute towards their research efforts. These research programs study vigorously the separate entities of electricity, different policies regarding environmental law, renewable resources, energy efficiency, how to make the health of the public better overall, and of course new ways and projects to implement a circular economy.

When trying to implement a circular economy and also promote eco-innovation, Greece must stay on track with its ready-set goals. Key drivers, such as the revenue and capital that comes from renewable energies, as well as the tourism growth remaining in the country, allow Greece to become more of a competitor against other countries in the European Union. With these factors and the various research, I believe Greece will be able to progressively become more eco-innovated in the years to come.

Before taking this class, I had no idea what the term industrial symbiosis really meant. However, after reading this article and taking this class, I feel much more informed on the topic and can definitely see more sustainable companies adopting this environmentally friendly method of doing things. The article defines industrial symbiosis as, “a relationship between two or more firms that exchange their waste (materials – energy – water), as feedstock for the production process.” This simply means rather than a firm throwing away its unneeded waste, a company is instead donating the waste to another firm to use as something else. This strategy is overall better for the environment because ultimately there is a strong effort to prioritize the protection of the environment by limiting the amount of waste that is actually being thrown out where it is put to no use.

Some of the key points this method focuses on are environmental management and pollution prevention. Furthermore, this includes recycling, using products to their full life cycle as intended by producers, and of course, reusing the waste that has been created among partnering firms. I found it interesting how the article noted that Greece, in particular, has been shown to have a production capacity of less than 60,000 tons of waste each year. Not much waste is generally recovered in Greece. Instead, it is shipped to neighboring countries like Italy and where it is then dealt with there.

One other interesting section I noticed in the article was the topic of waste compatibility. This really just talks about how compatible waste can be and how it is used for other things. An example from the reading talks vividly about agriculture and how most of the raw materials used in agriculture are fit for use in other sectors. Some of these listed materials can include malt, yeast, and seed residues in which they are all used for other farming activities. I also found it interesting how the physical characteristics of waste could affect their spatial allocation. I remember learning in my transportation class there are five main forms of transportation that are via: pipe, truck, air, boat, and rail. When deciding which form of transportation to pick when shipping goods, physical characteristics come into play. A great example of this from the article is found when the research talks about transporting gas and liquid waste. The most efficient way to transport this waste is obviously through pipes, rather than via truck. However, by doing it via pipe there is not a lot of waste that can be transported  as the space is rather limited compared to the trucking side. Therefore, the spatial allocation instantly decreases. 

I really enjoyed listening to the guest speakers from the U.S. Embassy and ACG come and speak. Both of these groups provided such insightful information from their daily careers that I would have never known if they had not spoken to our class. I loved how both of the presentations were very interactive, in order to keep the students intrigued. Looking around the room, it was easy to tell they had the student’s full attention with their captivating stories.

The lady from the ACG provided interesting knowledge about the process of working at a Greek University. I thought it was interesting how it was both different, yet somewhat similar to the colleges in the United States. Based on her presentation, it sounded like she had made a significant impact throughout her time at ACG.

I really thought it was interesting to hear the U.S. Embassy people come and speak, as well. I remember thinking it was so funny how one woman was saying a lot of the international students would go eat at the U.S. Embassy so they could get the flaming hot Cheetos. I never knew those would be so popular with people from different countries other than the U.S. I also thought the whole process of their daily duties within their jobs was so interesting. It was very interesting to know their job duties can range from anything like assisting government officials, attending important ceremonies and meetings, and helping others understand different policies. They are also the group people go to whenever they want to consider expanding their business internationally. It would be neat to be involved with the process of helping a domestic U.S. company get its foot in the door to expand globally. I also like the fact that they are able to somewhat pick which countries they want to live in by filling in a form and ranking their top countries. One of these ladies lived in Taiwan for four years and now currently lives in Greece. She also talked about how when one person gets a job there, the Embassy will also help their spouse to find a job in that designated area. It is really nice to know they look out for one another there. I also liked how if they ever did get tired of being abroad and just wanted to move back to the U.S., they could move back and work on the domestic side, once their current contract terminated. This level of flexibility indicates to me the U.S. Embassy seems like a very good place to work.

I found this paper to be a very interesting take on Hydra Island’s sustainability. This research paper talks about the key points Hydra still struggles with within its overall sustainability efforts. It was surprising to me that an island like Hydra which is much more sustainable than other places, is still looking for ways to improve. The writer states his main goal is to not offer solutions but to strike up a discussion on the topic in an effort to potentially promote action within the island community. The writer consistently emphasizes the importance of research in order to get a better hand at the problems Hydra faces.

One thing that surprised me in the article was the water ordeal. The scarcity of water is both an international and local problem for Hydra. The main source of water from Hydra comes from the water boat, transporting water over from the mainland. This is so different compared to living in the United States, where we have such easy access to water. I never really paid much attention to the amount of water I use, but when thinking about it now it definitely seems like a lot.

Despite some problems Hydra faces, Hydra remains a beautiful Greek island that is known for not having any cars, besides two garbage trucks. Locals and tourists either get around by water taxi, walking, mules, or donkeys. There are no huge hotels, no airport, and the bars and restaurants are typically family-owned by local people. Walking around Hydra, it is easy to sense the relaxed, peaceful, and laid-back environment that reels people in. With that being said, tourism is the main driving economic income for this island.

Before coming to Hydra and even Greece alone, I never realized just how much their economy is reliant on tourism. During the seasons of April to even the end of October, the high volume of tourists visiting provides a significant factor in the country’s economic growth. One key point I found to be important within the article was the two different opposing sides when asked about the future of Hydra. One side feels the island should focus highly on infrastructure and development in order to bring in more visitors for the island, making it more competitive with the other islands, like Mykonos. The opposing side mainly consists of resident foreigners who are more concerned about the environmental aspect and how this might affect their holiday homes and the lifestyle they are used to with the current state of Hydra. I believe finding the balance between these two arguments is key because I see where both of them are coming from.

In a world that is constantly growing, now more than ever, it is very important we start prioritizing the implementation of a circular economy and start leaning away from the traditional, linear economy. According to the article, the linear economy has been active ever since the beginning of the First Industrial Revolution. Back then the world only had less than 1 billion people, which did not put as much of a strain on the Earth when using this method. Now, with around 8 billion people inhabiting the planet, the world can simply not keep up with the amount of waste that is undergoing the planet using the traditional method. Therefore, nowadays many businesses and schools are starting to educate their workers and students on what a circular economy is and how it can be achieved.

A circular economy is one that simply optimizes the use of one’s natural resources by reusing, recycling, remanufacturing, and reducing wasted materials. This method helps to significantly improve the state of the environment. In this economy, there really is no waste, because there is a place for it and it can be used to make something else. It uses all aspects of the raw materials that are used to make products, rather than just throwing them away at the drop of a hat. It also encourages the optimization of renewable energy and attempts to stay away from any unnecessary fossil fuels or nonrenewable energy.

In this economy, there are several benefits that affect the environment, the economy, consumers, and of course businesses. The circular economy has been known to boost economic growth, create new jobs, lower costs and generate better profits, strengthen the value of land, along with its soil, improve the health of the people, and of course reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. With that being said, you might wonder why it is not completely in effect right now, if there are so many positives within this system. Well, there are of course some challenges and barriers that are faced as well. This would include an abrupt change in the current way of doing things. The article states there are four categories of barriers businesses need to pay close attention to. These are the cultural, regulatory, technological, and market sectors. It would be very difficult to get several countries in all parts of the world to engage due to the different policy regulations, the lack of technologies among certain countries, the different economic status of countries, and the different awareness and willingness to participate. All of these variable make it more challenging to begin the process of the circular economy. However, I believe as more time goes on, we will gradually start leaning towards a more circular economy, even despite of the challenges.

These past few days, I have learned so much about green supply chain management. Going into this class as a global logistics minor, I had a good understanding of what supply chain management was, as supply chain and logistics are somewhat similar. However, I was not as aware of how to make the supply chain more green and environmentally friendly. Throughout the lectures, reading the textbook, and conversing with my classmates, I feel much more confident in my understanding of what a green supply chain actually means.

A green supply chain is simply one that includes sustainable practices throughout the process of turning raw materials into finished goods. Here, using recycled materials, reducing waste, and conserving energy is a top priority. Companies can take steps towards obtaining a green supply chain by implementing eco-design within their supply chain. This can include reducing any excess packaging, designing their products to be made recycled after use, designing for long-term use, and of course, becoming as energy efficient as possible.

One of the most important key takeaways I have found over the last few days was the concepts of the linear and circular economy. In a linear economy, raw materials go through the process of being transformed into a finished good, where by the end of the process, waste is discarded with not much consideration of how it affects the environment. On the contrary, a circular economy is one that has eliminated waste altogether. The circular economy involves reusing, refurbishing, and of course recycling materials as much as possible. It is much better for the environment and is sustainably friendly when done correctly. In a perfect world, the circular economy is the ideal system that would be implemented everywhere.

When learning about the circular economy, I found it to be interesting how whenever companies invest their efforts into becoming more sustainable, there are exceptional benefits. Some of these include lowered costs, improved brand reputation, a higher market share, and of course an increased competitive advantage. This is due to the fact that more and more consumers are wanting to buy from companies that are making sustainable products. Recent trends from the next generation show individuals are starting to care more and more about the environment and want to see it prosper. We can see this easily in our daily lives through many trends such as reusable water bottles and bags, reduction in the use of plastic, and recycling wherever possible. Consumers no longer want to buy from companies that are harming the environment and are highly interested in supporting green companies. As far as trends go, these are some of the best ones that could come, because they support a circular economy. At this rate, I am very hopeful for the future and the generations that are next to come.