Poles apart

It seems appropriate to begin my spin on things with a general weigh-up of some of the differences between the two countries I have lived most of my life in. I grew up in Australia and moved to Sweden when I was 28. By the time we move back to Australia I will have spent 20 years in Scandinavia, specifically Stockholm. Not too far from half my life. I’ve had a great time here, but frankly, what excites me more than anything right now is the prospect of going home and living the ‘good life’ we’ve been talking about for a long time.

Besides the fact that I still call Australia home, there are a lot of reasons for moving. But the biggest reason is perhaps the climate. Naturally we’re hankering after warmer climes for comfort value – especially considering that this winter is the coldest recorded since I moved here – but perhaps the biggest factor is that we need to live in an environment more conducive to self sustainability – our ‘green dream’. We’re picturing a straw bale house (though choice of building material is still under discussion) with solar-passive design, solar panels on the roof, grey water system, compost toilets, permaculture garden with year round harvest and much, much more. One could do a lot in Sweden – but solar power during November? – forget it! In 2009 we got a grand total of 17.3 hours of sunlight for the whole month.

Sweden is a dark country. For much of the year it is clothed in darkness. The snow, particularly this year, is a blessing as it lights everything up, and, when its cold enough, it stays crunchy and bright. But still, darkness prevails. And the veil doesn’t really lift for a good six months. Of course, when it does it blossoms into long, mildly-warm, bright days. I’ve always said it – and its true – if I could afford to spend every July in Stockholm, I would: a more beautiful summer city would be very hard to find.

There’s a joke over here about summer being the longest day of the year. The joke being, of course, that the summer is very short. It is. Too short for my liking. Seasonally, Australia would find it hard to find a more extreme opposite than Sweden. Australia (and lets pin-point Sydney as a base of observation) boasts long hot summers that bend slowly into the cooler months around July. Sweden on the other hand has a seemingly endless winter that eventually merges into warmer months, again around July. And of course, these climates affect their respective cultures, the lifestyles of their populations and their afforded opportunities.

The natural landscape is also affected. If we compare the Australian bush with the vast Swedish forests, for example, there is little resemblance. Sweden has its pointy dark green pine and various types of silvery-trunked birch. Australia’s bush areas are smothered in dense faded green Eucalyptus that soften the horizon with cloud-like foliage. In Sweden you walk through the forest in summer in complete silence, at peace and safe. In Australia you feel the heat, you hear the sometimes-deafening sound of cicadas, and you’re likely to be on the watch for snakes and various other things that bite. In Sweden the natural landscape holds few surprises; in Australia, nature is something to be wary of. We can extend this whole safety and danger issue into a larger scope, again involving the various influences of climate. In Sweden there are never any natural disasters – barely even the odd storm. In Australia volatile storms and deadly bushfires seem to be the norm. Not to forget cyclones and earthquakes. I suppose there’s a price to pay for consistently hot sunny days.

But the biggest price Australians pay for a warm climate is its lack of water. Australia is the driest continent on earth. Sweden, on the other hand, has an abundance of water. If it’s not falling

from the sky then it’s everywhere else. Stockholm, in fact, is an archipelago, with one side of the city surrounded by brackish water and the other fresh. On the news some years ago I remember an international water expert dipping a glass into the clean waters of Lake Mälaren, in the middle of the city, and drinking it. There may be minor health issues with some water treatment, or lack thereof, but all in all, Sweden has well and truly more than enough drinking water for all its citizens. 

Water is Australia’s biggest issue, and always has been. From the times of the first settlers, explorers were sent out to find areas further afield that could be settled – specifically for grazing or cultivation – in other words, areas with constant supplies of water. Time and time again the explorers were defeated by one of the harshest landscapes in the world. They never found the often-dreamed-of inland lake and even a long river like the Darling was prone to dry up seasonally. As time went on Australians were, and still are, unsettled by the inconsistency of rainfall. Where most other countries can rely on seasonal precipitation, many places in Australia find themselves going for months on end without the slightest drop, and without warning. With the population growing, and with the onset of global warming, these matters seem more urgent than ever.

In contrast, Sweden’s biggest priority is keeping warm in the long frozen months and, naturally, this means using great amounts of energy. Sweden’s energy policies are pushing towards a sustainable energy system with the long-term view of obtaining all its energy from renewable energy sources. On matters green, Sweden is a country with a conscience. Most people I know over here do their best, within reason, to follow green principles and, as a topic of discussion, its hard to avoid ‘global warming’ these days. Despite this it’s hard, whether it be taking a warm bath or simply lighting the dark, to avoid energy consumption, especially when it’s minus ten degrees outside. (For a few green facts see But is the grass greener? below).

There’s a myriad of other examples of differences between these two countries I could cite and it’s obvious I’ve only touched the surface here. It’s interesting to look at the fundamentals – the sun, water – and how much of one and none of the other raises different issues in different places. There’s no better or best in all this, but for us, there is a choice. Not unlike the first settlers in Australia we see opportunity, possibility and a dream of a better way of life. The grass may not be greener on the other side of the world but in any case, for now, we’ve chosen to follow the sun.

But our move to Australia is not only about finding that light, finding that warmth, growing our own food and building our own house, its also about finding a way to live that leaves little imprint by way of contributing to global warming. It’s a way of securing a future for our kids and generally getting a sense of wellbeing about doing what we think is the right thing. In many ways I will miss Sweden: its calm, its security, and even candlelit nights in December. But we’ve got bigger fish to fry and we just don’t think we can do it full-tilt here. 

So it’s on to our three-year plan. A plan involving a giant move, the building of a self-sustainable house with all the eco-attachments we can afford, and a permaculture garden that contributes significantly to our daily sustenance. We don’t expect to be able to be fully self sufficient (eg: having a car of some sort will be imperative), but we intend to do our best. 

But is the grass greener? Australia vs Sweden 

Here are a few simple green figures taken from the Swedish Government website. Sweden’s electricity production is basically fossil free. About half of electricity production comes from hydropower and the rest is nuclear. Sweden, despite increases in industrial activity, has decreased its use of oil from 70% of its total energy supply to 30%. District heating, via mostly biomass, takes care of about 40% of the heating market today when previously oil was the mail fuel. There’s more. Suffice to say that while we could take issue with nuclear waste and the emission of CO2 from the burning of biomass (this however is sustainable provided the plant materials are constantly grown – hence the balancing by CO2 intake) Sweden is doing its part in trying to turn around a world hell bent on suffocating itself.

On matters energy related, Australia has some catching up to do. It should have the distinct advantage from a source that many tribal cultures used to refer to as God - the sun. Are Australians using it? The 154MW Victorian solar power station, a Solar Systems project that was to come on stream in 2013 and generate enough energy to power 45,000 homes, has been put on hold due to the company going into receivership. Currently there are no other large scale plans. The grim truth is that currently, despite being the driest continent on earth, solar power only accounts for 0.1 – 0.2 % of electricity production. Figures suggest that up to 91 % of Australia’s energy comes from fossil fuels, much of that from the burning of coal, a lethal CO2 producer. Thankfully there is policy in place to get Australia up to 20 % renewable energy by 2020 but many argue about whether this is enough.

I’d like to make an analogy here. Its like the fat person that keeps eating fast food despite being surrounded by an abundance of delicious healthy food. Attitudes, in both countries and in various areas, need to change. At the end of the day the average consumer is the one who will decide what products they want to use and big business, and its massive power base, will have to oblige, or sink. Government responsibility is in laying the groundwork for understanding and offering support. Getting the average punter green-smart and putting forward financial rebates and subsidies is the way to go. Of the former I think Sweden might have the edge, of the latter, perhaps Australia, with its various rebate incentives, edges it. But regardless of differences, both of these countries seem to be a part of an overall growing awareness.

There’s no winner or loser in this equation. In many ways I’m proud to be a citizen of both countries. What we have left are individual choices. We lay out the diverse grounds of neccessity, the forces that it takes to affect change and where those changes are happening, and then we make our own choices.