3 tips on how to live sustainably in Denmark
Green, sustainable, progressive. These are common words in reference to Denmark, and there tends to be a common idea that Denmark is an environmentally friendly and forward-thinking country. What’s behind all of this?
Well of course, the country is known for its large wind-turbine industry as well as its rife cycling culture, two images that point to sustainability. It’s also very easy to find alternative milks for your coffee in almost any café and to buy meat alternatives in supermarkets and restaurants. Half of the electricity supply in Denmark is from wind and solar power, and the Government’s goal is for the electricity system to be completely independent of fossil fuels by 2030. Biomass is the most common form of energy though, whereby wood pellets, wood chips and straw, as well as residual waste, are being burned to replace many Danish power plants. And most households in Denmark are heated through district heating, where the heat is distributed in the form of hot water in pipes. About half of this fuel that heats the water is from biomass or other renewable energy sources.
So, here's what you need to know about how you as an international in Denmark can contribute to a country that prides itself on its sustainable systems.
Know how to sort your waste and recycling
When it comes to trash and recycling, each municipality is responsible for collecting waste from properties, and there are different ways of recycling/removing waste depending on which area of Denmark you live in. Here you can find the guidelines for your municipality.
In most municipalities, you can recycle paper/cardboard, Plastic, food, and beverage cartons, glass and metal, food waste and Hazardous waste. Waste like pizza boxes, hygiene waste, empty tubes, chips and coffee bags should go in your residual waste (restaffald), which is burned and used for energy. When it comes to bulky waste, known as storskrald, you can order for the municipality to come and collect your waste outside your apartment or street. See this website for more information.
And of course there is also pant in Denmark, the container deposit scheme where the extra price you pay for your beers/sodas/drinks is returned to you if you take them to a pant drop-off area (most supermarkets).
Don’t be afraid of cycling
In Copenhagen, there are five times more bikes than cars in the city, and more than 2/3 of Danish children cycle to school when living between 1 and 3 km from school. Of course it depends on which city you live in as to how busy the cycling routes are, but the rules are usually very easy to follow. It’s quite easy in Denmark to buy a bike second hand online, and of course, it’s a very sustainable way of travelling short - or long - distances.
Knowing where to buy “øko” food
You have probably seen food and products that says øko or økologisk on the packaging. This means “organic”, and it will have the red “Ø” logo on the product. In 1987, Denmark implemented a state control for organic products. This means that there is a cooperation between farmers, companies and the state, which ensures the production and sale of organic products is controlled and approved.
The four principles of organic agriculture and production in Denmark are: health – fertile earth, clean water and healthy animals; fairness – fair business models, decent working conditions and taking care of ecosystems and animals’ natural instincts; care – thinking about the generations that will follow and not using synthetic pesticides; and ecology – reusing and recycling resources, minimising waste, and creating sustainable cycles. You might find that organic food is a little more expensive than non-organic food, but you are able to find the red Ø label in most major supermarkets in Denmark.
The organic food sales increased by almost 15% in 2020, and according to Organic Denmark, three out of four Danish families buy organic food each week.