Växjö Part Ett

Tuesday 4/28/15 - Wednesday 4/29/15

Our first day in the new city we had Swedish with Roland. He is the man who started the Semester in Sweden program in 2009 and he will be with us for the last month as our Swedish teacher and guide to the area. Roland grew up in the area but now lives in Minnesota.

At night we had dinner with some city employees. We were treated to fine cuisine and wine. I had delicious walleye with white wine. The next day we met the same people for lectures and a tour of the city.

Växjö in 2007 was declared the greenest city in Europe! Very early on, in 1992, the politicians in the city agreed that their city needed to actively strive to be greener, including fossil free. Their goal is that by 2030 the whole city will no longer use fossil fuel. Currently their buses run on biofuel. Wednesday morning members from the municipality building explained some of the environmental projects they are working on including buying organic products for the municipal kitchens like day cares and assisted living facilities. A person in the US is responsible for 15 tons a year of CO2 emissions. Sweden per person it is 4 tons. Växjö per person is 2.5 tons. I find those numbers staggering. The world can learn from cities like this one.

After two lectures we hopped on bicycles! We were led on a bike tour of the city with stops at locations to discuss how the city handles its water and lakes.

This was originally a natural brook that flowed into Lake Växjösjön. The city has had problems of pollutants mixing with the water and then flowing into the lake. These pollutants created a large growth of algae in the lake, making it not swimmable. There is actually a system of lakes connected. A nearby lake was so dirty in the 1960s that you could practically walk across it. Great efforts have been made to stop pollutants and clean up those already deposited. Most of the lakes have undergone dredging to remove polluted sediment from the bottom. This canal above is the only open section of the once natural brook. It serves as a reservoir when there is a large amount of storm water. Before the brook water is dumped into the lake it goes to the filtration plant for cleaning. 

Ruby posing in front of our bicycles. 

Lake Växjösjön

During our tour it started to sleet out of nowhere! We took shelter under the bridge and continued our lecture until it stopped.

After lunch we were shuttled to a nearby power plant. It is owned by the city and runs on wood residue from the forest industry instead of fossil fuels. The plant is 89% efficient compared to 30% efficient fossil fuel plants in the US. The ash is then put back on the forest floor and the cycle can continue. 

For our tour of the power plant we had the pleasure of wearing hard hats, vests and headphones. Although Hannah is one of the shortest people on our trip, she still managed to hit her head on a pipe.

Our tour guide and Amelia

All orange machinery was involved in the feeding of the boiler. 

Erin in Sandvik 1, the first power plant built at this spot. It was opened in the 1970s, hence the orange and green color scheme. 

After a long day I made cheesy fried egg sandwiches with salami. They tasted so good I had to post a picture and brag. Hannah is one of the best cooks on the trip but she asked ME to teach HER how to make eggs. I thought that was worthy of bragging about. :)

Becca and Hannah hand-whipped chocolate mousse for us all! Erin also helped. This picture is another example of how photogenic Hannah is. Girl can not keep her eyes open!

I took another photo of her with her mousse that doesn't look like she's drunk.