Rapeseed fields and windmills is a common sight in the Danish summer, pictured: Ærø
Denmark is often praised as being the one of the greenest countries in the world, but apart from the ubiquitous bikes, the individual Danes are surprisingly nonchalant about the environment despite their reputation, and actually contribute as many greenhouse emissions as most other nationalities. As with so many other things, it is thought as a collective responsibility, and have safely been played into the hands of the government, which in turn with great success under Social Democratic leadership enacted a series of reforms, mainly green taxation, between 1993-2001, that made Danish society as a whole (especially in industrial production) one of the most energy efficient in the world, as it turned out it was also good business, and green technology has become of the country's largest exports, including fields like thermostats, wind turbines and home insulation. Because of this, green policies enjoys unusually broad support among the people and the entire political spectrum. 20% of energy productions comes from renewable energy, mainly wind power, a feat mainly made possible by the common Nordic energy market and the massive hydro energy resources in Norway and Sweden, which can easily be regulated up and down to balance the unreliable wind production.
All these lofty green visions, does actually have a few tangible implications for travellers:
Plastic bags cost money; 1-5 kroner - non refundable, so bring a bag for shopping groceries.
Cans and bottles have 1-3 kroner deposit, refundable everywhere that sells the given product.
Many toilets have half and full flush buttons, now - you figure out when to use which.
There is a roughly 100% (4 kroner) tax on gasoline, the total price usually hovers between 9-11 DKK per litre. ($7-8 per gallon. Be aware, though, that due to the current oil-crisis, the total price is now hovering between 11-12 DKK per litre.
In many counties you need to sort your waste in two separate 'biological' and 'burnable' containers.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Denmark
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Denmark - updated May 2024
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Denmark Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
