For the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche perfection only comes from the exercising of what he called the ‘will to power’, the possession and exercise of creative power but also the conscious or unconscious urge to exercise authority over others. Perfect is then that? Exercising authority over others? And yet we are led to believe that it is anything but. Perfection is said to be just around the corner from where you live, then. The cities that are all the same, the roads with the green lawns and the litterless streets, the people that have polite children and the people that grow tulips in the back yard and tend the roses out the front, baking cakes for their neighbors and going to church on Sunday. Ah! That’s the perfect society, the exercising of control over them to make them conform and believe that they live in that perfect society. Perfect! A society, a city where everything has been cleansed, cleaned, shiny and new. It’s the cleanest that’s best. But the cleanest whatever in the world is a term that can cover a multitude of sins, can’t it? It all depends on what your definition of clean might be. Clean after all means free from dirt [10] or stains, but it also has the meaning of free from unwanted matter, uncontaminated and pure or innocent.
Today, it’s the quest for the state of the perfect city, the cleanest country; the one that will save the planet at the same time by cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions; the one that is worried about the toxic waste that’s released. The cleanest countries are ranked every year according to their Environmental Performance Index (EPI), or the method of numerically quantifying the policies that a state implements with regard to the environment and protection. The index was developed by Yale University (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy) and Columbia University (Center for International Earth Science Information Network). What’s taken into account in the calculation?
· Environmental burden of disease.
· Adequate sanitation and drinking water.
· Indoor air pollution and urban particles as well as local ozone.
· Regional ozone and sulfur dioxide emissions
· Water stress and water quality.
· Conservation risk and effective conservation including critical habitat protection and marine protected areas.
· Growing stock of forestry.
· Trawling intensity in fishing zones.
· Agricultural subsidies and intensive cropland.
· Pesticide regulation.
· Emissions per capita (greenhouse gases).
· Emissions per electricity generated and industrial carbon intensity.
In all there are 25 indicators that are examined for 178 countries (2014).
The 2014 scores are as follows.
Cleanest Countries in the World
10. Norway
This country has a score of 78.04. This country was in 3rd place in 2012 and has rapidly lost that top pole-position. But, over a ten-year period it has improved biodiversity and habitat by 15.61%. It is one of the first to have made efforts concerning environmental protection and air quality but it has been rapidly overtaken by greater effort from others.
9. Sweden
This country has a score of 78.09. Sweden has been in the top ten year after year. Since 2012, it has increased from 10th to 9th position and it ranks in first place for health impacts of the environment and the quality of the air. Fishing stocks have decreased for this country by nearly 15% also.
8. Austria
Austria has a score of 78.32. This country has always ranked in the top-ten since the creation of the index. But, it has been knocked down by one place since 2012 from 7th to 8th. It’s not necessarily that Austria is lacking in making consistent effort, but rather that the others are just making more. It is in 1st place for water and sanitation quality.
7. Spain
Spain notches up 79.79 points on the EPI. Despite all the economic problems that hit this country, the Spanish have improved their position since 2010 when they ranked 25th to 7th place today. They have improved agriculture by over 30% in a ten-year period. But, it still has a lot of effort to make regarding climate and energy since they only rank 101st position.
6. Germany
Germany has a score of 80.47 on the EPI. Germany has increased its score by 13.56 points since 2012 (when it came in 11th place). Over the past ten years it has improved legislation and efforts regarding agriculture, by 27.91%. Air quality has also increased by over 7% in a decade.
5. Czech Republic
This country stands at 81.47. This country is rarely the one that comes to mind when we think of environment and improving the quality of eco-oriented legislation. But, it is now in 5th position, having improved by 16.68 points since 2012, when it was ranked 18th.
4. Singapore
Singapore has an EPI score of 81.78. In 2010 this country was just in 28th position and it shows that nothing is impossible when the will is there. Perhaps others should take a leaf out of the Singaporean book on the environment. They also rank in joint-first position for health impacts and they are in first place for water and sanitation and water resources.
3. Australia
Australia’s EPI stands at 82.4. The country is the third best in terms of environmental protection and eco-policies. They were only in 20th position in 2006 and they have made a vast improvement in legislation over the past ten years, increasing their score since that time by 11.77%. The country ranks 1st in terms of health impacts and water sanitation as well as forest protection.
2. Luxembourg
Luxembourg stands at 83.29 and has second place in the rankings for the cleanest country in the world. This country has increased by +3.02% for the decade overall trend and its final ranking. It ranks in number one position for water and sanitation but it doesn’t come out well with regard to agriculture and forests since it only ranks 93rd place and 62nd place respectively. But, the country has decreased the pollution in the air, improving quality by 26.57 points over a ten-year period.
1. Switzerland
Switzerland stands at as the world’s cleanest country with a score of 87.67. It’s not surprising that this country is at the top since it recycles almost 96% of its recyclable materials. It scores first place for overall EPI but it also comes in first for water and sanitation cleanliness and biodiversity and habitat as wealth as health impacts on the environment. But it is only ranked 156th with regard to agriculture and even its air quality is only 103rd. Over a ten-year time span it has increased its overall score by +17.27%.
Where’s the USA in all of this? Only in 33rd place today. It was in 30th position in 2006, which is hardly any better. But, it would seem that the US is doing even less today than it was nearly ten years ago. It has an EPI of 67.52. The USA can only do better in increasing its score. It has increased overall by 2.23% in the past decade, which means that it is making some effort to improve the cleanliness of the country. But, it’s obviously being overtaken by other countries that are making a far more considerably visible effort.
What about the cleanest cities in the United States then? The one where the kids breathe good air as pure as the mountains of Switzerland and where the parents don’t have to worry. The American Lung Association produced the State of the Air report for 2015, measuring air pollution particles as well as ozone pollution near ground levels, all of which can lead to health issues.
Cleanest Cities in the USA for Year-Round Particle Pollution
10. Rapid City-Spearfish, SD
10. Anchorage, AK
10. Bismarck, ND
6. Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI
6. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
6. Salinas, CA
6. Duluth, MN-WI
5. Flagstaff, AZ
3. Casper, WY
3. Cheyenne, WY
2. Farmington, NM
1. Prescott, AZ
What is it with the people that want it all perfect? Perfectionism: exercising authority remember! Everything must be perfect. Perfect kids, perfect job and perfect life. But, behind closed doors you can imagine the complete opposite can’t you? Is the definition of perfect the cleansed world, the asepticized abomination of society that we have tried to create in which the dirt gets swept under the rug in the front room of the White House? What is it with our quest for removal of the dirt around us all the time and yet the ones that are actually exercising their own will to power, the perfect ones, those at the top of the heap, are actually wallowing in it up to their necks. Where did cleanliness go there and what’s it next to these days?
So, what would your definition of a clean city be in this world? A place that would be perfect, a place that is free from the stains that you don’t want in society. But does a clean city mean necessarily happy citizens? The attainment of perfection or approaching what we might consider to be perfection in cleanliness is one thing, but happiness is quite distinct.
How does your city need cleaning up today?
[8]