Located in Oberlunkhofen, 30 mins away from Zürich, in the countryside of Switzerland you will find the airbnb of Susanne Brunner, which not only provides a living experience rather it allows you to observe a sustainable way of living.
Being passionate about #wellbeing and #sustainability, I was drawn to coming to Switzerland, according to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) which quantifies the environmental performance of a country's policies, measures its environmental performance, trends and how close they are to meeting the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals #SDGs. The EPI ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators in ten issue categories.
As per the 2022 data, the index ranks Switzerland as the greenest country in the world, with a score of 87.42, scoring 99.99 for water sanitation and 99.67 for water resources. Moreover, the country scored high for sustainability, with a boom in clean energies such as heat pumps, wind turbines, geothermal energy, hydroelectric power and solar power.
Now how is all of that integrated in its society? How is it translated in the daily living?
Staying at Susanne's airbnb answered all my questions. She is a mother of 3 –Sinna, Patrick & Kenny, who already moved out of home but come visit her regularly. Susanne is a nurse and a first-aid medical instructor who currently works with an airline. She was born near Zürich and has been living in Oberlunkhofen for over 30 years.
Her home has a beautiful garden that she has nurtured for many years which is home to bees, other insects, and to Gino, her cat who roams around as he pleases, sometimes trying to catch the birds that come to eat from the feeders. She also has a small crop of vegetables ranging from tomatoes, lettuce, and other aliments from where she eats and drinks almost on a daily basis. Whether, in a salad, tea infusion, seasoning, baking or for natural remedies. Susanne makes her own flower arrangements at home using the flowers from her garden and has many lamps around powered by solar energy.
Nonetheless, it takes time to maintain this way of living, watering the plants, removing the weeds, preparing all food naturally and even the waste disposal. The latter attributes to the fact that waste management in #Switzerland is based on the polluter pays principle; hence, bin bags are taxed with pay-per-bag fees. The country stopped burying garbage in landfills in 2000, incinerating everything that is not recycled to generate #energy.
Incentivizing people to recycle, most municipalities have collection points for glass and plastic bottles, paper and cardboard and food and beverage cans. Others offer pick-up service for certain items – including compostable waste – on specific days. Supermarkets commonly accept light bulbs, batteries, water filters, plastic beverage and cleanser bottles. At Railway stations you can recycle plastic PET bottles, paper and beverage cans. Electronic sellers will take in e-waste for recycling, charities collect clothing and shoes among others.
The waste management policies in place contribute to a recycling rate of 54 percent which is above the European average rate of 28 percent. However, Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest per capita waste production in the world.
Staying at Susanne's #airbnb was very peaceful, enriching and soul filling. #Oberlunkhofen is a municipality in the district of Bremgarten, in the canton of #Aargau. With an area of 3.3 square kilometers, 56.5% of the area is used for agricultural purposes, around 16% is settled with buildings and roads, 24% is forested and the rest is non-productive with rivers or lakes.
I enjoyed meditating in the beautiful landscapes that I am used to describe when I guide my #meditation sessions, walking around, jogging in open fields, seeing the most beautiful sunsets, having an amazing view of the mountains when visible, learning from and with Susanne, getting to know the neighbors around or people I saw frequently in the supermarket, at the tennis courts or the bakery. Being in a village, of approximated 2,079 habitants, gives you a sense of belonging. Seeing how everyone interacts and knows each other, how they contribute to the community, greet you every time and share with each other was very enriching. I am super grateful for the time spent there.
To book Susanne's accommodation, send an email to we113eing@gmail.com with your request and I would gladly put you in touch! Be sure to check out the Youtube video with the recap of my stay. Always remember to put your wellbeing first, with self-love and compassion.