Recycling German-style
November 20th 2007 13:40
Today I took some empty soft drink and beer bottles back to the supermarket where I had originally bought the drinks they contain. I received 15 Euro cents for each bottle I returned, which gave me a nice little discount on my shopping.
Returning empty bottles to the supermarket is a very normal part of German daily life, but it's not a sight you would encounter in Australia. And why? Because, as we all know, Germans love to be super-efficient in everything they do, and recycling is no exception.
I actually sometimes wonder why we don't have the same system in Australia. It's so beautifully logical after all. Saving a few bucks on your shopping really motivates you to bring the empty bottles back, and it also makes the whole recycling process faster. We still have a lot to learn, it seems.
Some supermarkets here even have these nifty bottle-returning machines. You open the little door, put some bottles in, and close it again. And then the magic happens! The machine checks if those are indeed the bottles from the drinks sold in that supermarket, and then it sucks them up into some mysterious bottle-afterlife realm. The bottles are then well on their way to being reincarnated as something very similar to what they were in their previous life. You can repeat this process as many times as you like, and when you're done you're instantly rewarded with a receipt that lets you save a certain amount of money on your shopping. Zat is trooly effishent, nein?
Anozer very effishent thing in Germany is... the rubbish bins! Most big public areas, such as train stations, have rubbish bins with four different compartments, because mixing recyclable items with non-recyclable items is a disgrace (you start to feel that very soon after moving here). One compartment is for glass (and those rare non-refund bottles), one is for paper, one is for general packaging, and one is for general waste such as food. And what about a compartment for cans, you ask? No, no, no! Cans should always be returned to the retailer because you can always get a refund for that.
I could mention other brilliant examples of waste management in Germany, but I think you get the picture. They have it pretty well thought out here.
The only downside of this breathtaking efficiency is the incredible feeling of guilt you develop when you occasionally go against the recycling guidelines for whatever reason. As a result, you find yourself running halfway around a garbage bin, even when you're in a hurry, just to make sure you don't throw your chewing gum into the paper compartment. Because zat would be an outrage!
Returning empty bottles to the supermarket is a very normal part of German daily life, but it's not a sight you would encounter in Australia. And why? Because, as we all know, Germans love to be super-efficient in everything they do, and recycling is no exception.
I actually sometimes wonder why we don't have the same system in Australia. It's so beautifully logical after all. Saving a few bucks on your shopping really motivates you to bring the empty bottles back, and it also makes the whole recycling process faster. We still have a lot to learn, it seems.
Some supermarkets here even have these nifty bottle-returning machines. You open the little door, put some bottles in, and close it again. And then the magic happens! The machine checks if those are indeed the bottles from the drinks sold in that supermarket, and then it sucks them up into some mysterious bottle-afterlife realm. The bottles are then well on their way to being reincarnated as something very similar to what they were in their previous life. You can repeat this process as many times as you like, and when you're done you're instantly rewarded with a receipt that lets you save a certain amount of money on your shopping. Zat is trooly effishent, nein?
Anozer very effishent thing in Germany is... the rubbish bins! Most big public areas, such as train stations, have rubbish bins with four different compartments, because mixing recyclable items with non-recyclable items is a disgrace (you start to feel that very soon after moving here). One compartment is for glass (and those rare non-refund bottles), one is for paper, one is for general packaging, and one is for general waste such as food. And what about a compartment for cans, you ask? No, no, no! Cans should always be returned to the retailer because you can always get a refund for that.
I could mention other brilliant examples of waste management in Germany, but I think you get the picture. They have it pretty well thought out here.
The only downside of this breathtaking efficiency is the incredible feeling of guilt you develop when you occasionally go against the recycling guidelines for whatever reason. As a result, you find yourself running halfway around a garbage bin, even when you're in a hurry, just to make sure you don't throw your chewing gum into the paper compartment. Because zat would be an outrage!
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