As part of the Sustaining the Globe series, Dr. Jelena Sanchez led “Exploring Green Spain: A Student Panel.” During D-Term, 20 students explored six cities throughout Spain. Six of the 20 students made up a panel to present different parts of their trip.
Michael Gutierrez, a first-year Spanish major, focused on the food available in Spain. Organic food is a staple of Spanish cuisine, and special care is taken in how food is grown and prepared.
Sustainability in Spanish restaurants and parks was the focus of Betsi Beltran-Davila, specifically the integration of green spaces in those areas. These green spaces play an integral role in how people in Spain live, and citizens throughout the country are invested in utilizing them in the name of sustainability.
Madeline Derango, a first-year history major and double minor in Spanish and conflict resolution, focused on the steps that Spanish citizens and their government are taking to preserve resources and save the environment.
“I thought the most interesting thing I saw was the daily life and the people. It’s amazing how Spaniards live their everyday lives,” she said.
Water conservation is a high-priority to the Spanish due to incredible droughts. “They use bathrooms similar to those in the Wentz Science Center, allowing people to choose to use less water when possible.”
The future of sustainability heavily involves eco-conscious architecture. Julia Pachla, a third-year marketing major, spoke about Spanish buildings that are designed so that during the summer the air conditioning does not need to be run continuously like in the United States. And, during the winter, both tourists and residents bundle up to preserve energy on heating.
The viability of renewable energy sources is essential to sustainability and Monica Sanchez, an elementary education major, spoke about the use and development of renewable energy in Spain. The group took a tour through a wind farm owned by the company Enel. They learned that the company specializes in renewable energy such as hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, solar and biomass. A single wind turbine can power up to 400 homes; the wind farm they visited already had 93 turbines.
Laura Dougherty, a graphic design major, spoke about the bridging of sustainability and art. Museums in Spain switched from using halogen lights to LEDs. This switch not only saves energy, but also does less damage to the paintings. Halogens can leave a yellow hue on paintings, and ruin them over time.
