Sunday, January 1, 2012

Athens, Greece: Natural Sustainability

Hello fellow blog followers!

We just left Athens and are now safely in our hostel in Rome. But I am here to reflect on my say in Athens, Greece.

I wanted to first talk about how its best to talk to locals when you want to gather the most interesting information. We took a free walking tour given by a nice chap named George, as we were walking he pointed out that Athens built over the waterways. They had no real reasoning behind it so it completely turned me off. Smog there is already off the charts so acid rain comes along. I thought of all the acid rain that drains through the city and has no plant life to filter it, the rain falls right into the main waterways.

Most of the main plant life I saw were in parks such as the National Gardens and potted plants on porches of apartment buildings.

Also I wanted to talk about Greece's way of sustaining their natural history. I understand that Greece isn't in the best economy state, but historical ruins sustainability is a big part in any countries/cities tourist income.  What I observed while touring is that most of the popular ruins were not properly taken care of, many pieces of marble were sorted and stored off to the side and people were free to roam about as they pleased. It was nice not having to stand in line to take turns for pictures but I thought it would be more beneficial if they had more control.

Also plant life in Athens was poor, and the area inside and outside of the city was not well kept, and the soil looked depleted and the highly urbanized areas seems to take over everything. Also many stray dogs and cats were found all over, as well as their feces (adds to rain water run off). Pigeons as well seemed to be over populating the city, Pigeons carry many diseases which can have an effect on water pollution and air pollution.

Athens was not the best place to travel to, but many of the locals said it is better to tour in the summer time. But I am glad we got to experience part of the real Athens life without heavy tourism going on.
I conclude that Greece isn't able to sustain a healthy environment for its natural plants and animals and as well as their inspiring history, due to their economic state. But I hope that in the future when they are able to bounce back they will not only focus of reshaping their economy but they will also realize how much they need to take care of their natural resources. 

No comments:

Post a Comment