I always find it interesting to see how others solve problems that seem so prevalent here in the states. Three simple ideas from Europe come to mind.

Cart coins.

Honestly, this is such a simple solution, I have no idea why it hasn’t caught on here in the States. When we were in Italy, more often than not the shopping carts were linked together with chains and interlocking tabs. To get one to use, we were required to insert a coin in a slot which we then pushed in / pulled back to release the lock and take our cart inside the store. When we were finished unloading our purchases in the car, we simply took the cart back, inserted the piece again (I may be getting the actual procedure wrong, but is was super simple, nonetheless), and got our coin back.

It took no time at all to develop the habit of keeping a couple of coins in the dash, and for those that really couldn’t be bothered there were always teenagers or other financially strapped individuals around who would take the cart off your hands and re-park it for you in exchange for getting to keep the coin.

What we didn’t have to deal with? Carts slamming into our vehicle from blowing winds, or taking up parking spaces after they rolled around the parking lot a time or two. Additional bonus? The cost of goods inside the stores was more under control because no staff members needed to be hired to chase down and organize runaway grocery carts.

Bag tax / surcharge.

It’s great that some stores want to give you a discount for every bag you bring in that they don’t have to provide. But the fact is, some people just won’t do it. Just like some people don’t bother to clip coupons. When we lived on the other side of the ocean, there was an extra charge for every bag you needed. Some stores were good enough to save left over stocking boxes, but not all.

What was interesting to me at the time (it was several years ago, now) was how many more people I saw bringing in their own bags than I ever noticed back home. Not sure what the psychological difference was between saving a nickel and getting charged a nickel, but apparently it did the trick for some. Just an observation.

Highly prevalent small space and vertical urban gardens.

This blew me away. I couldn’t believe how many people were so talented with using every nook and cranny of their limited urban living space to grow food. Shrubs growing on the sides of an entry walk planted with rosemary, climbing vines of grapes rather than flowers, narrow strips along the sides of buildings planted with fruit trees pruned to grow flat against the wall and along wires strung for stability.

Tiny back yard areas loaded with tomatoes, basil and aubergines . . . literally every small space and vertical opening in our little neighborhood in Northern Italy was brimming with edible plants. Of course, it didn’t hurt that there was a fairly long growing season, but still.

How much could a single, apartment or town home dwelling family reduce their monthly grocery budget with these skills? Bonus? Lots of trees and plants growing up alley walls means less room for graffiti.

I don’t mean to reduce all the wonderful things I experienced there to such a sort post. It’s just that these things struck me recently as things we could easily do something about in America. On a selfish note, I vote we start with tackling the runaway grocery carts.

Have a great day, everybody!

我总觉得看外国人如何解决我们美国普遍存在的一些问题很有趣。突然想到在欧洲看到的三个简单的例子。

投币手推车

老实说，解决这个问题真的很容易，可我不知道为什么这没有在美国推行开呢。在意大利，那些购物手推车通常被链子和卡式锁连在一起的。当我们要用手推车时，我们只需要投一枚硬币到卡式锁的狭槽里面，然后一推一拉把锁打开了，就可以把手推车推到商场里面了。当我们把买的东西放到自己车里面后，就可以很轻松的把手推车推回去了。把硬币一插（也许这步骤我说的不对，但是这超级简单），然后硬币就退还回来了。

养成留两枚硬币的习惯并不要花多少时间，但对那些怕麻烦的人来说也不成什么问题。因为总有一些青少年或者一些手头紧的人愿意帮你把手推车退回去，以赚取那两枚硬币的小费。

这省了那些事呢？刮大风的时候，那些手推车会撞上我们的车，他们被推到停车场里有时会占用太多的车位。还有其他的好处吗：商店的内部成本降低了，因为他们不需要雇佣人来寻找和管理那些被推得到处都是的购物车。

购物袋征税/附加费

如果你自带塑料袋的话，有些商场会因不用提供塑料袋而给你打折，这样做很好。但事实上，有些人就是不愿带塑料袋。就像有些人懒得去拿优惠券一样。而如果我们生活在大西洋对岸，我们得为用的每一个塑料袋支付额外的费用。有些商场作的很好，会把回收丢弃的塑料袋，但不是所有的商场都会这么做。

当时（这是几年前的事了），我觉得很有趣的是，我发现，在那边自带塑料袋的人比我们多多了。我不太清楚省一个硬币和花一个硬币心理上的差别，但是，很显然，他们这么做很成功－－这只是我所观察到的。

小面积的垂直城市菜园很流行

这让我很震撼。我简直无法相信有这么多如此天才的人们在他们城市中有限的生活空间里，利用每一个隐避处和小缝隙来种植。在入口出种植着各种各样的灌木，迷迭香，那些藤蔓上的葡萄－－而不是花，街道旁狭窄的过道上靠墙种着修剪整齐的果树。

小块的后院种满了番茄、罗勒和茄子。在意大利北部，我们邻居们在每一小块空间和垂直的空隙里都种满了可食用的植物。当然，它们的生长周期也很长。

一个单人间，一套公寓或者一个家庭每个月可以通过这个手艺在食品预算上省多少钱呢？可以带来多少利润呢？大量的树木和攀附在墙上的植物就意味着没有多少空间留给墙上涂鸦。

我的意思并不是我在那里所经历的美好的东西仅仅就只有这篇小文所说的这么多。只是这些事情最近震撼了我，而这些我们在美国很容易效仿的。出于个人私心，我建议我们从解决散落四处的购物车的问题做起。
祝大家好运!