Melbourne VS Columbus

When it comes to the city of Melbourne, the city does a good job acknowledging the Aboriginal population. In Columbus, we are aware that the city was built on the Native American lands, but we don’t do a good job with acknowledgment of the Native Americans. In Australia, the acknowledgement is a statement before any group meeting on a land that was once an Aboriginal homeland. The acknowledgment states the tribe that traditionally owned the land (if it is known, due to the displacement and erasure of their people and history).  Additionally, outside the buildings of organizations on traditionally owned Aboriginal land, there is a placard that also acknowledges the Aboriginal tribe. In Columbus we don’t acknowledge the original owners of the land that we built on. Melbourne seems to have more respect for the population that was here before colonization occurred.

Another difference that we have noticed is that Melbourne focuses on reducing human created harm to nature. There is not a lot of litter laying on the ground and people in the city will even pick up trash if they see it laying on the ground. Melbourne also has the Growing Green Environmental Sustainability Plan which focuses on being greener and providing more trees in the city. Additionally, they also work on reducing pollution with cars by encouraging public transportation, biking, and other alternatives to driving cars (even skate boarding!). In Columbus the city seems to be covered in litter and people are more likely to just walk past the trash than to pick it up and put it in the trash can. Columbus also doesn’t provide trams for public transportation and the cars used in the city has sky rocketed in the past few years. Pollution and lack of respect for nature seems to be more common in Columbus over Melbourne.

Another prominent difference between Melbourne and Columbus is the use of alcohol and tobacco.  With alcohol, heavy drinking is prevented with ad campaigns stating ‘If you drink and then drive, you’re a bloody idiot’ and signs in every restaurant stating the fees of drinking under age.  Alcohol content is also lower in most Australian drinks, making it harder to hit the legal limit quickly.  The blood alcohol concentration limit in America is .08, while Australia’s is .05.  Drinking is taken much more seriously.  Additionally, Australians take smoking cigarettes much more seriously as well.  On every package of cigarettes, there is a cover stating ‘smoking kills’, ‘smoking causes emphysema’, ‘smoking causes cancer’, etc.  The tax on cigarettes causes the total price to be $20-30 per package.  A box of cigarettes in Columbus rings up to about $7 per package.  Maybe this tax is what keeps the streets of Melbourne clean and the air fresh.

 

Mary Tillman and MK Crimmel

One thought on “Melbourne VS Columbus

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *