We have collected tips for you that you can benefit from before, during and after the exchange stay.
Environmental scholarship
Is your goal to produce as little C02 as possible? Then you should avoid airplane and speedboats, and instead choose a bus or preferably a train as transoprt method. Did you know that in 2021, USN launched an environmental scholarship for those students who choose to travel environmentally friendly to their place of exchange (ie: use train, bicycle, ski, walk, paddle, bus). Click here to read more about the environmental scholarship.
Before exchange
The government wants at least 20% (and soon 50%) of all students to travel on an exchange stay during their studies in Norway. Traveling on an exchange stay is a fantastic opportunity that adds great value to your education.
You get the opportunity to live in another country, learn languages, new working methods, get to know a different culture and gain international experience. If there is one trip you are going to take, you should prioritize a semester abroad, where you get to experinace a new culture and really get to know the city you are going to live in and the people who live there.
Travel to Europe by train rather than Australia by airplane
The environmental aspect is a good reason to choose an exchange stay in Europe over Australia. Another good reason is the cost. You do not pay tuition fees and you get an Erasmus scholarship at the same time. In addition to being beneficial to the wallet, it is also beneficial for the environment to travel shorter. But is there really such a big difference between a flight to Australia compared to a train ride to Paris?
Flights to Paris emit 1556 kg of CO2, while flights to Sydney (Australia) emit as much as 10,398 kg of CO2. If you think about the environment and choose to take the train to Paris, you only emit 332 kg of CO2. You will be able to take the train to Paris 31 times (round trip) before you have emitted as much CO2 as a trip to and from Australia.
Do you want to travel by train to the exchange stay? Apply for an environmental grant now!
Want to know the climate footprint of your exchange trip? Try the holiday calculator - Climate footprint. Here you see how much better it is to travel by train than to take a airplane.
Also, check out this PDF on why you should travel by train on an Erasmus stay.
During the exchange
- Buy used! There is always an opportunity to buy used. By buying used kitchen equipment, furniture, curriculum and interior items, you save both the environment and your wallet.
- Bring a bottle you can refill with water. Can not drink the tap water? Find out if you can use a water filter jug for tap water. On campus, there are often separate water dispensers where you can fill your bottle, so you do not have to buy many new plastic bottles.
- Buy a used bike. Cycling is a great way to get around a new city. Before you go home you can sell the bike, then it might not cost you anything at all?! PS: remember helmet.
- Familiarize yourself with local waste sorting. Do they sort plastic, food waste, glass, paper, etc.?
- Bring shopping nets from home, and check if the country you are going to bans plastic bags (as they do in Tanzania, Denmark, France and Germany, among others).
- If you are going to travel around in the exchange country: avoid airplanes, rather travel by train. In this way, you will also see much more of the country, and you might meet someone new friends on train loafing. PS: feel free to book the train tickets early, then you will get the cheapest tickets.
- Before you go home, you can arrange an auction/give-away night with new friends. Then you get rid of the things you should not bring home in a enviromental way. In addition, you give others the opportunity to buy used. Maybe you also earn a little on it too.
Do you have any sustainability tips you would like to share with other students? Send an e-mail to international@usn.no
Inspiring websites
- Erasmus by train. By students, for students.
- Eurovelo (cycle route map).
- Warmshowers - a network for cyclists.
- Trainline - an app / website where you can buy train tickets all over Europe.