Annabel Zhao ’24

The following conversation is the product of efforts by GEO’s Green Advisors. The post was adapted from an interview with Emmy Li ’25 and was edited by Jiho Shin ’26.¹

Annabel studied abroad in Germany in Spring 2023. Her program of choice, Junior Year in Munich (JYM), is the longest-running American study abroad program in Germany and is affiliated with Germany’s top research university, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; LMU Munich).

What does sustainability mean to you?

I look at sustainability in terms of living with minimal waste and maximal effectiveness in everything that I use. Living sustainably comes out of a respect for nature.

Tell us about your coursework or extracurricular activities related to sustainability.

I did not have any coursework in Munich related to sustainability. However, I did attend an extracurricular field trip to a local organic farm called the Herrmannsdorfer Farm.

The significance of this Farm is that it was founded by a butcher who was particularly concerned with humane ways of raising animals for slaughter as well as how to create a more sustainable and ethically conscientious process. Visiting the Farm was eye-opening. There were all types of animals, including pigs, cows, chickens, and sheep. Rather than separating the animals, the Farm encourages natural integrated, cooperative relationships among the animals. For instance, you will see chickens grazing at the same time as cows. Farmers observed that these farm animals protect one another and that there are definite benefits to letting them graze and thrive together.

The Rachel Carson Center of LMU Munich partners with the Herrmannsdorfer Farm to offer the Landhaus Fellowship Program through which doctoral, postdoctoral, and senior scholars can engage in organic farming while pursuing academic interest projects on the Farm. On my tour, I found it really interesting to engage with sustainability at a local level. This experience has also inspired me to eat meat more intentionally.

How has your time abroad shaped your perspective on sustainability?

Being in Munich shaped my perspective on how sustainability can be supported top-down, especially by the government through the implementation of strategies such as a nuanced waste management system which regulates collection and sorting. Many local communities within Germany sort their own waste. At the household level, there exist different types of waste bins separating plastic, cardboard, and compost. Then all the household waste is brought to waste collection centers in respective neighborhoods where it is further sorted by community members.

Another notable aspect of sustainability in Munich was public transportation, biking, and walking. I have come to understand that city design is crucial to making sustainable ways of living and moving possible. Munich is a very walkable city with a centralized public transportation system and established bike lanes. In addition, there are rental bike and scooter programs everywhere that allow people to not rely on cars to travel around the city. I saw plenty of solar panels and wind farms while traveling by train. Germany’s national policy stands against the use of nuclear energy and supports the use of renewable energy like solar and wind due to historical citizen-led movements for clean, safe energy.

Germany, and specifically the city of Munich, has a strong culture of reusing and distributing secondhand items. Walking on the streets of Munich, one would easily come across little boxes on stoops outside of apartments with signs that read “Free”. These boxes are full of items that people want to give away. As with student residential spaces, there are common collection areas where people can donate items when moving out. There also exist bustling WhatsApp marketplaces which students join to buy furniture and other items at hugely discounted prices from one another. What an awesome way to promote sustainability efforts.

What challenges related to sustainability did you encounter during your time abroad?

While most places in Germany have a thorough waste management system, the dorms in which I stayed did not. The dorm rooms were not supplied with separate sorting bins. There was only one waste bin, and the students were responsible for later sorting the waste into larger collection bins in the central area of the student residential complex. However, sorting didn’t always happen because the extra step of acquiring one’s own waste bin and carrying it outside deterred many students who were only staying there temporarily from following through with the guidelines. In that sense, the student residential experience wasn’t very conducive to waste sorting for sustainability.

I would say that I did a poor job of sorting waste when I lived in my own bungalow. Still, I carried my reusable utensil set everywhere I went, which markedly cut down the amount of single-use cutlery that I used abroad. Living independently necessitated frugal budgeting; most items I bought were secondhand. It was really fun to meet my neighbors through the marketplace, though.

How has your time abroad deepened your knowledge of issues related to sustainability?

It has taught me the power of city planning. The scale of integration of public transportation in German society surprised me. In Germany, whenever I looked out the window on a train, I saw many pedestrian walkways and few roads. Here in the U.S., when I look out the window on a SEPTA train in the suburbs, I see 90% roads and 10% sidewalks–that is if there are any sidewalks. Being abroad has also heightened my consciousness of the money and resources used on cooking as opposed to on eating out.

What can the Swarthmore College community learn from your experience?

My experience abroad has made me more cognizant of item-sharing. One thing we could do is expand the capacity of the Worthmore Free Store. Upon my return to the College, as I was furnishing my dorm room, I joined Facebook groups centered around local gift economies and cultures of sharing. I believe that implementing initiatives like these within the College would not only contribute to sustainability but also improve access to quality student life by reducing financial barriers. Encouraging students to share and exchange items through a centralized station, whether that be a campus-wide WhatsApp group or Worthmore operating for extended hours, would be helpful rather than assuming that students have the capacity to sort through move-out items.

1. The views and/or opinions represented in the GEO blog belong solely to the student(s) and do not represent Swarthmore College; students are not liable for any errors or omissions in the personal experiences they share. ↩︎