Restaurants all over Europe are now prohibited from serving water in plastic bottles. Want Perrier or Evian? It will come to your table in reusable glass carafes. True, stores can still sell spring water in plastic, but just limiting them in restaurants makes a huge difference. So does eliminating plastic bags. Increasingly, shops are providing cloth carriers for those who haven't brought their own "carry bags." And kudos to airlines like Lufthansa that have eliminate plastic eating utensils in economy class!
As for toilets with two flush buttons - not all flushes require as much water -- bravo to that technology. And to the windmills that grace the landscapes of Europe, dancing their unsynchronized ballets in the breeze.
European countries are not perfect. (Italy could use a lesson in road signage, not to mention driver etiquette.) But they are older than America and like wise grandparents they have things to teach us. We shouldn't, as adolescents are prone to do, turn our backs thinking we know better.
When traveling abroad, we need to look, listen, and learn. What better place to contemplate those lessons than in a sidewalk cafà ©, sipping cafà © au lait or a glass of chilled pinot before a superb meal in the local tradition?
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