https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/how-copenhagen-cleaned-up/
"In 1990, Copenhagen’s harbour was a polluted industrial port, where
environmental toxins mixed with human waste in the deep sludge of its darkest
corners. You couldn’t see to the bottom, which was contaminated with mercury
among other nasty things. Sewers emptied directly into it every time it rained,
which was often. Nobody was foolish enough to swim in its grimy waters.
These days, I don’t leave the house without a swimming costume in my bag,
rolled up in a little sports towel. I’ve spent a year swimming in this harbour
at least once a week, and in that time I’ve seen otters and seals, mackerel and
eels, fronds of floating seaweed and legions of people swimming happily in the
crystal clear water. I regularly attach a swimming camera (an Insta360) to my
costume and record what I see, convinced that I’ll come back with footage of a
seal’s flipper or a dance of jellyfish or the shadow of a mermaid’s tail. It
doesn’t even feel that unrealistic – what does seem odd is that the harbour
could have changed so much in just 30 years.
At a time when we are thinking a lot about sewage in our swimming spaces, it’s
interesting to find out that that was what kickstarted the revolution here in
Denmark. Copenhagen in the 1980s was experiencing a post-industrial slump. Boat
building in the city was over. Factories and shipyards were giving way to
derelict spaces. Abandoned warehouses stood along the water’s edge with broken
windows, like broken teeth in a freshly-punched mouth. To counteract the cycle
of unending decay, the government decided to turn the ship around and create
new living zones, including the one where I now live, and re-establish life
under the water while they were at it."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/light-into-lightning/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
